.B76 


FROM  THE  ORIENT 


ACROSS  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS/^  » 


TO  THE  OCCIDENT 


y 


] 


FROM    THE 


ORIENT  TO  THE  OCCIDENT, 


OR 


L.  Bop'sTRiP/cps  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS, 


IN  APRIL,   1877. 


lew  fort: 

E.  WELLS  SACKETT  &  BRO.,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTERS, 

CORNER   PINE   AND   WILLIAM    STREETS. 

1878. 


Bancroft  Library 


THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED 

TO 

MY   WIFE, 

AS   A 

TOKEN  OF  LOVE  AND  EESPECT. 


"A    WORD    TO    THE   READER." 


DEAB  FRIENDS  :  Let  me  disarm  criticism  beforehand  by  assuring 
you  that  no  person  could  point  out  a  failure  or  a  shortcoming  in 
this  little  book,  which  I  do  not  know  all  about  and  deplore.  In  fact, 
I  have  my  doubts  as  to  calling  it  a  book  at  all.  No,  let  me  rather  say, 
that  this  book  of  mine  is  a  vehicle  through  which,  with  a  longing  for 
sympathy,  I  convey  to  you  my  pleasure,  annoyances  and  experiences  in 
the  journey  it  narrates  ;  or,  if  you  like  it  better,  it  is  a  casket  enshrining 
the  memory  of  many  a  pleasant  hour  made  bright  and  indelible  by 
your  companionship,  your  kindness,  your  attention  and  hospitality. 
Take  then,  these  recollections,  dear  friends,  and  each  one  of  you  find 
among  these  lines  something  worthy  of  respect ;  and,  for  you,  0 
critic !  if  you  will  indeed  attempt  to  find  fault  with  what  is  written, 
remember  that  in  all  courtesy  you  should  deal  gently  and  generously 
with  a  work  proclaiming  itself  from  the  outset  not  so  much  a  book  as 
long  gossipy  lectures  to  one's  friends,  and  an  amicable  attempt  to  con 
vey  to  them  some  of  the  delights  it  commemorates.  And  if  you  do  not 
find  a  great  deal  in  it,  dear  critic,  remember  that  to  competently  judge 
of  these  lectures  one  must  have  learned  to  read  between  the  lines  and 
find  there  the  pith  and  the  memory  of  the  whole. 

LANSON  BOYEK. 


FROM  THE  ORIENT  TO  THE  OCCIDENT, 

OR 

L  BOYER'S  TRIP  ACROSS  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS, 

.  1877- 


To  the  Members  of  Atlantic  Lodge  No.  50, 1.  0.  0.  F. 

BROTHERS  :  On  the  third  day  of  April  my  family,  with 
a  lady  friend  (Mrs.  W.  Gregory)  and  myself,  started 
on  a  western  trip. 

We  took  the  cars  at  Jersey  City  for  Washington,  and 
arrived  there  the  next  morning,  and  at  8.40  A.  M.,  April 
4th,  we  started  for  Louisville,  Ky.,  on  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad.  We  followed  up  the  Potomac  Valley 
and  River,  the  most  crooked  I  ever  saw.  We  passed 
through  Harper's  Ferry,  where  John  Brown  went  up  to 
glory,  as  his  spirit  marches  along  to  the  tune  of  Glory 
Hallelujah.  We  saw  the  house  he  was  captured  in,  and 
a  tumble -down  looking  old  building  it  is. 

During  the  trip  up  this  valley  we  passed  a  place  called 
the  Deer  Park,  a  summer  residence  of  Gov.  Morgan  of 
Pennsylvania.  It  is  a  very  handsome  place,  and  a  great 
resort  for  hunting  deer.  The  mode  of  hunting  them  is 
as  follows  :  The  hunters  cut  notches  in  the  trees  and  fill 
them  with  salt.  The  deer  come  to  eat  the  salt,  and  then 
go  to  a  river  near  by,  called  the  Cheat  River,  to  drink, 
and  while  in  the  act  are  shot  by  the  hunters. 

Snow  and  plowing  was  often  seen  from  the  car  win 
dow.  Along  the  Potomac  Valley  the  railroad  often  runs 
on  very  high  places  in  the  mountains.  Many  times  the 
track  leads  over  precipices  500  feet  high — dreary,  wild- 
looking  places  indeed.  Often  we  were  over  3,000  feet 
high. 


8 

The  next  morning  (April  5th)  we  arrived  at  Cincinnati, 
but  could  not  spare  time  to  see  the  city.  It  is  too  well 
known,  however,  to  need  any  description  by  me.  It  is 
the  great  pork  depot  of  our  nation.  The  city  proper  is 
built  on  a  high  hill,  and  runs  down  to  the  Ohio  River, 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  which  is  Covington,  a  pretty 
town  in  Kentucky.  At  seven  o'clock  we  started  on  our 
tour  to  the  Mammoth  Cave  in  Kentucky,  via  Louisville. 
We  arrived  at  Cave  City  at  seven  P.  M.  We  were  obliged 
to  take  stage  for  the  cave,  some  nine  miles  distant,  over 
a  rocky,  mountainous  country.  On  going  up  the  moun 
tain  side  we  broke  down — one  wheel  gave  out.  There 
we  were,  in  the  midst  of  a  dreary  waste  of  rocks,  trees, 
and  mountains,  broken  down,  and  about  sunset  at  that. 
The  prospect  was  not  very  flattering — no  house  or  even  a 
barn  to  gladden  our  sight.  We  had  four  horses  ;  con 
cluded  to  take  two  horses,  go  back  down  the  mountain 
to  Cave  City,  and  get  another  stage.  The  passengers 
would  have  to  pass  away  the  time  as  best  they  might. 
This  was  done,  and  late  in  the  evening  we  arrived  at  the 
cave,  tired,  hungry,  and  cross.  April  6th,  at  about  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  entered  the  cave,  and  re 
mained  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  we  returned  to 
the  hotel,  very  much  pleased  and  satisfied  with  that  we 
had  seen  ;  but  as  I  have  not  the  power  or  even  the  wit  of 
a  ready  writer,  you  will  excuse  me  if  I  do  not  make  my 
self  properly  understood,  but  I  will  to  the  best  of  my 
ability  undertake  to  give  here  some  idea  of  what  we  saw 
on  this  occasion.  In  the  first  place,  I  am  told  it  exceeds 
anything  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  I  do  not  know  this 
to  be  a  fact,  but  I  am  ready  to  believe  any  and  all  stories 
that  may  be  told  about  this  wonderful  cave.  Photo 
graphs  of  the  cave  can  be  seen  at  my  office  by  any 
brother  who  chooses  to  call. 

Our  guide  tells  us  there  are  over  one  hundred  miles  of 
avenues  and  roads  in  this  cave.  We  came  to  a  river 
called  the  Echo  River,  which  was  so  high  it  could  not  be 
crossed.  A  curious  thing  about  this  river  is  there  are 


9 

fish  without  eyes  in  it.  I  have  one  at  my  office  in  a  vial, 
and  it  can  be  seen  at  any  time  by  any  brother.  There  is 
a  river  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  near  by  called  the 
Green  River,  and  when  the  Green  River  rises  Echo  River 
rises  also,  and  when  one  river  is  low  the  other  one  is  low 
also.  For  this  reason  it  is  supposed  there  is  a  hidden  con 
nection  between  the  two.  This  supposition,  however,  is 
and  will  remain  an  unsolved  mystery.  The  entrance  to  the 
cave  is  194  feet  above  the  Green  River,  30  feet  in  width, 
over  which  may  be  seen  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  a  mist 
or  fag  when  the  temperature  of  the  outer  air  suits. 

The  Mammoth  Cave  breathes  once  in  a  year  ;  that  is  to 
say,  in  the  summer  the  current  sets  from  the  cave,  and 
in  the  winter  it  sets  inward.  The  average  temperature  of 
the  cave  is  59  degrees  the  year  round.  On  entering  the 
cave,  for  a  few  hundred  yards  in  summer,  when  the  tem 
perature  is  one  hundred  degrees,  the  air  rushes  out  with 
such  force  as  to  extinguish  a  lighted  lamp.  Passing  into 
the  cave,  however,  for  about  half  a  mile,  the  motion  of 
air  is  barely  perceptible  at  any  time,  from  the  fact  that 
the  main  avenue  enlarges  so  rapidly  that  it  plays  the  part 
of  a  reservoir,  when  a  current  of  air  from  any  direction 
is  speedily  neutralized.  Thus  you  will  see  that  a  change 
of  seasons  is  unknown  in  the  Mammoth  Cave  ;  therefore 
day  or  night,  morning  or  evening,  has  no  existence  in  this 
wonderful  place.  In  fact,  there  is  an  eternal  sameness 
here,  the  like  of  which  has  no  parallel.  In  many  por 
tions  of  the  cave  bats  in  untold  numbers  are  seen  stick 
ing  to  the  rocks  overhead,  and  if  you  go  near  enough  to 
them  with  your  light  or  lamp  (for  each  one  of  us  have  a 
lamp),  they  will  be  found  sticking  to  the  rock  with  their 
hind  feet,  head  downwards,  and  making  a  noise  similar 
to  that  made  by  mice,  and  if  you  undertake  to  tear  or 
drive  one  of  them  off,  you  have  a  job  on  hand,  for  they 
will  bite  and  strike  with  their  wings.  A  comical  looking 
"bird"  they  are,  and  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated. 

The  inner  air  of  the  cave  differs  greatly  with  the  outer 
air.  Many  persons,  on  coming  out  of  the  cave,  find  it 


10 

exceedingly  difficult  to  breathe  for  a  few  moments.  The 
air  inside  the  cave  is  so  pure  that,  emerging  from  the 
cave,  the  air  outside  is  found  to  be  insufferable— so  much 
so  as  to  be  offensive  to  the  smell,  which  quickly  dispells 
the  romance  of  a  pure  country  air.  You  might  ask  what 
kind  of  diseases  would  be  benefited  there.  Well,  con 
sumptives  at  one  time  visited  the  cave,  and  with  partial 
results.  Some  died  there,  and  all  of  them  died  when  ex 
posed  to  the  external  air.  One  man  remained  in  the 
cave  over  five  months,  and  did  not  see  the  light  once 
during  that  time  ;  he  was  brought  out  dead.  Short  trips 
are  attended  with  good  results,  but  a  cave  residence  is 
fatal.  Short  and  easy  trips  have  been  known  to  effect  a 
cure  in  chronic  diarrhea  when  all  other  kinds  of  treat 
ment  failed.  The  stone  in  which  this  wonderful  chasm 
is  carved  out  is  limestone.  Stalactites  are  seen  on  every 
hand.  They  are  formed  by  drops  of  water  dropping 
down  from  the  ceiling  or  roof  of  the  cave.  These  drop 
pings  of  water  are  from  limestone,  and  if  th^  stone  is 
white,  the  stalactites  will  be  transparent ;  but  if  the  stone 
contains  black  oxide  of  iron,  they  will  be  red  or  yellow- 
stone  color.  Stalactites  are  found  by  these  drops  of  wa 
ter  forming  on  the  fioorof  the  cave,  and  often  those  from 
above  and  below  form  a  junction  almost  midway,  and  by 
placing  a  lamp  on  one  side  you  can  see  quite  plainly 
through  them.  Saltpetre  was  made  in  large  quantities  in 
1812-14  by  nitrate  of  lime  arid  soda  and  carbonate  of  pot 
ash,  of  which  large  quantities  were  found  in  the  cave? 
and  a  number  of  the  old  vats  or  tubs  that  were  used  at 
that  time  are  still  in  good  repair,  and  with  a  little  trouble 
saltpetre  can  be  furnished  in  large  quantities  again. 

After  leaving  a  small  archway  near  the  mouth  of  the 
cave,  called  the  Narrows,  you  enter  the  main  cave,  and 
it  is  six  miles  long,  and  varies  from  40  to  100  feet  in 
height,  and  from  60  to  300  feet  in  width.  The  rotunda  is 
entered  on  leaving  the  Narrows  The  ceiling  is  150  feet 
high  and  1 75  feet  in  diameter  ;  the  floor  is  strewed  with 


11 

remnants  of  vats,  water  pipes,  wood,  and  other  materials 
used  in  making  saltpetre  in  1812. 

To  the  right  of  the  rotunda  a  cave  called  Audobon's 
Avenue  leads  off  for  half  a  mile,  to  a  collection  of  stalac 
tites,  and  during  the  winter  millions  of  bats  live  here, 
and  a  hissing  noise  is  heard  from  them  continually. 
Some  fifteen  years  ago  a  number  of  small  stone  cottages 
were  built  by  consumptive  people  for  the  purpose  of  re 
siding  here  during  their  sickness.  They  were  told  by 
their  physicians  that  that  kind  of  treatment  would  be  ex 
pected  in  curing  them.  Some  thirteen  had  their  cottages 
in  this  dark  and  dismal  cave.  Three  of  them  died 
here,  and  the  rest,  when  appearing  again  on  the  surface, 
lived  from  three  days  to  three  weeks. 

Those  who  remained  in  the  cave  three  or  four  months 
presented  a  frightful  appearance  ;  their  faces  externally 
bloodless,  eyes  sunken,  and  pupils  dilated  to  such  a  degree 
that  the  iris  ceased  to  be  visible,  so  that  no  matter  what 
the  color  of  the  eye  was  originally,  it  soon  appeared  all 
black. 

We  leave  the  rotunda,  and  pass  over  the  high  cliffs  to 
the  left ;  they  are  hanging  cliffs  indeed,  and  are  called 
the  Methodist  Church,  80  feet  in  diameter  and  40  feet 
high  ;  here  forms  the  pulpit,  which  consists  of  a  ledge  of 
rocks  25  feet  in  height.  The  Grospel  was  preached  here 
from  this  pulpit  40  years  ago  ;  the  logs  or  benches  occupy 
the  same  position  which  they  did  when  first  placed  in 
the  Church.  We  pass  from  the  rotunda  to  the  Grand 
Arch,  which  is  50  feet  high,  and  60  feet  wide.  To  the 
left  of  the  path,  leading  to  the  giant's  coffin,  are  found 
two  immense  rocks,  many  tons  in  weight  fallen  from  the 
roof  above,  and  are  standing  in  upright  positions  ;  the 
giant's  coffin  is  a  large  rock,  40  feet  long  and  20  feet 
wide,  and  8  feet  deep,  and  at  the  point  from  where  it  is 
viewed  it  presents  a  striking  resemblance  to  an  immense 
coffin.  On  the  ceiling,  to  the  left  of  the  giant's  coffin,  is 
a  picture  of  an  Ant-Eater,  natural  as  life,  formed  by  the 
droopings  of  black  gypsum  on  the  ceiling.  A  little  fur- 


12 

ther  on  the  ceiling  is  presented  a  gronp  of  figures  called 
the  giant,  wife  and  child  ;  the  giant  is  in  the  act  of  pass 
ing  the  child  to  the  giantess.  Still  farther  on  a  colossal 
elephant  may  be  observed  on  the  ceiling. 

From  the  giant's  cave  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mammoth 
Cave  wheel  tracks  and  the  impression  of  feet  can  be  very 
distinctly  seen,  which  were  made  nearly  50  years  ago  ; 
at  that  time  the  earth  was  moist  and  soft,  but  now  the 
whole  ground  is  as  hard  as  adamant. 

We  next  come  to  the  Star  Chamber,  situated  in  the 
main  cave,  60  feet  high,  70  feet  wide,  and  500  feet  long  ; 
the  ceiling  is  composed  of  black  gypsum,  and  is  studded 
with  innumerable  white  points,  and  by  dimlight  they 
present  a  most  striking  resemblance  to  stars,  and  when 
the  guide  takes  his  lamp  and  descends  below,  or  behind 
a  ledge  of  rocks,  by  which  a  cloud  is  made  to  pass  slowly 
over  the  ceiling,  it  is  difficult  to  divest  oneself  of  the  idea 
that  a  storm  is  approaching,  and  it  needs  but  the  flash  of 
lightning  and  the  roar  of  thunder  to  make  the  illusion 
complete ;  after  producing  the  storm  illusion,  the  guide 
disappears  with  all  the  lamps  through  a  lower  arch- way, 
hundreds  of  yards  in  length,  leaving  the  visitor  in  total 
darkness  ;  the  guide  appears  at  the  extreme  end  of  the 
arch-way,  holding  in  advance  of  him  all  the  lamps  ;  as  he 
slowly  elevates  the  lights  from  the  cavern  from  which  he 
rises,  it  produces  the  illusion  of  the  rising  sun  ;  with  the 
exception  of  Echo  River,  the  Star  Chamber  is  the  most 
attractive  object  in  the  cave. 

The  floating  cloud  room  connects  the  Star  Chamber 
with  Proctor's  Arcade. 

Proctor's  Arcade  is  the  most  magnificent  natural  Tun 
nel  in  the  world,  100  feet  in  width,  45  feet  in  height,  and 
a  mile  in  length  ;  the  ceiling  is  smooth,  the  walls  are  up 
right,  and  look  as  though  they  had  been  chiseled  out  of 
solid  rock  ;  when  this  Arcade  is  lighted  up  at  the  western 
terminus  with  Bengal  Lights,  the  view  is  magnificent  be 
yond  description. 


13 

We  next  come  to  a  rotunda  400  feet  in  diameter, 
the  ceiling  is  40  feet  high  and  perfectly  level,  and  the 
wonder  is  that  the  ceiling  has  strength  to  sustain  itself, 
for  the  surveyor  says  it  is  not  more  than  forty  feet  from  the 
surface  of  the  earth. 

The  cave  at  this  point  is  very  dry,  and  no  change  of 
any  kind  is  taking  place  in  it,  otherwise  there  might  be 
some  danger  of  the  ceiling  falling  in. 

When  this  immense  area  is  illuminated  at  both  ends, 
as  it  is  by  the  guides,  it  presents  a  most  magnificent 
appearance.  At  the  eastern  extremity  of  this  rotunda  is 
a  column  extending  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling,  called 
the  Nicholas  Monument,  named  after  one  of  the  guides 
who  has  been  in  the  cave  as  such  for  over  36  years. 

A  short  distance  beyond  the  rotunda,  the  main  Cave 
leads  off  several  avenues  or  branches,  the  one  to  the  left 
leads  off  to  the  black  chamber,  which  is  100  feet  wide 
and  20  feet  high,  the  walls  and  ceiling  covered  with  a 
black  substance  ;  this  is  the  most  gloomy  room  in  the 
cave. 

The  avenues  lead  off  to  the  right,  one  communicates 
with  the  fairy  grotto,  which  contains  a  most  magnificent 
collection  of  stalactites,  and  this  avenue  is  one  mile  in 
length  ;  the  other  avenue  communicates  with  a  solitary 
cave,  at  the  entrance  of  which  there  is  a  small  cascade. 
The  Cliff  City  is  in  the  main  cave,  beyond  the  rocky  pass? 
and  is  100  feet  in  diameter,  and  40  feet  in  height,  the 
floor  is  covered  with  pieces  of  rock,  and  they  present  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  city.  We  next  come  to  the  long 
route  ;  the  visitor  leaves  the  main  cave,  at  the  foot  of  the 
giant' s  coffin,  and  passes  into  the  deserted  chamber  ;  the 
distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  cave  to  the  maelstrom 
situated  at  the  end  of  the  long  route,  is  9  miles. 

We  next  come  to  the  Wooden  Bowl,  and  it  receives  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  a  wooden  bowl,  such  as  used  by 
the  Indians  in  early  times,  was  found  in  it  when  first  dis 
covered,  and  the  cavern  is  in  the  shape  of  a  wooden 
bowl. 


14 

Martha's  Palace  is  entered  by  passing  a  steep  decliv 
ity  and  a  pair  of  steps,  called  the  Steps  of  Time,  and  this 
palace  is  40  x  60  feet. 

Side- Saddle  Pit,  over  which  there  rests  a  dome,  is 
reached  by  passing  through  what  is  called  the  arch -way, 
all  bearing  evidence  of  water  running  through  it ;  this 
pit  is  90  feet  deep  and  20  feet  across. 

The  bottomless  pit  looms  up  as  we  leave  the  side-sad 
dle  pit,  it  is  175  feet  deep  and  40  feet  wide,  and  a  bridge 
has  been  thrown  across  it,  from  which  this  pit  may  be 
viewed  with  safety  ;  right  over  this  pit  is  a  dome,  called 
Shelby' s  dome.  60  feet  high,  and  40  feet  in  diameter  ;  pit 
and  dome  reaching  the  distance  of  235  feet  right  up  and 
down. 

As  you  leave  the  bottomless  pit  you  enter  a  room  20 
feet  in  height,  and  40  feet  in  diameter,  and  at  this  place 
it  is  the  custom  for  visitors  to  have  a  rest  and  refresh  the 
inner-man  with  food,  brought  by  the  guides,  for  by  this 
time  we  are  all  very  hungry,  and  the  way  we  eat  would 
astonish  the  Cannibal  Islanders. 

We  next  come  to  a  place  called  the  Scotchman's  Trap, 
a  low  arch-way,  called  the  Valley  of  Humility,  the  ceiling 
of  which  is  smooth  and  white,  and  appears  as  though  it 
had  been  plastered  ;  this  low  archway  runs  along  for  a 
mile  or  more,  and  finally  descends  down  a  stairway  lead 
ing  to  Echo  Kiver.  The  story  of  the  Scotchman's  Trap, 
is  peculiar,  and  it  runs  something  like  this  :  a  Scotchman 
was  visiting  the  cave,  and  when  he  came  to  this  long, 
lone,  narrow  passage-way,  he  refused  to  advance  any  fur. 
ther,  the  guides  were  at  their  wits  end,  for  the  best  part 
of  the  cave  was  further  on,  and  it  would  never  do  to  stop 
right  here,  the  guides  recollected  a  passage-way  from  the 
narrow  gang- way  leading  into  the  bottomless  pit,  from 
which  a  person  could  be  hauled  up  with  ropes  into  the 
main  avenue,  although  it  had  never  been  used  before  by 
them,  a  distance  of  some  235  feet,  and  to  convince  the  old 
Scotchman  of  the  feasibility  of  this,  to  him  a  hazardous 
attempt,  they  undertook  the  job  among  themselves,  it 


15 

proved  a  grand  success,  and  the  Scotchman  was  satisfied 
and  went  on  his  journey  rejoicing,  and  from  that  time 
until  now  it  has  been  called  the  Scotchman's  Trap. 

A  short  distance  from  the  old  Scochman's  Trap  is 
placed  a  very  curious  shaped  rock,  called  the  Shanghae 
Chicken,  from  a  forced  resemblance  to  that  beautiful 
bird. 

The  next  avenue  we  come  to  is  the  Fat  Man's  Misery  ; 
it  is  a  narrow  avenue,  150  feet  in  length,  and  looks  as  if 
it  had  been  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock  by  the  action  of 
running  water.  This  avenue  varies  from  a  foot  and  a 
half  to  three  feet  wide  ;  the  upper  part  from  4  to  10  feet 
high,  and  contrary  to  all  calculations,  there  never  was  a 
man  too  large  to  pass  through  Fat  Man's  Misery. 

Great  Kelief  is  entered  on  leaving  Fatman's  Misery  ? 
and  it  varies  from  40  to  60  feet  in  width,  and  20  feet  in 
hight.  From  the  ceiling  great  limestones  hang,  and  they 
appear  to  be  ready  to  fall  on  the  heads  of  visitors  at  any 
time  should  a  sudden  shake  give  them  a  chance. 

The  traces  of  the  water  that  once  passed  through  this  . 
avenue  could  be  very  easily  seen  in  the  lines  of  gravel, 
sand  and  mud,  now  laying  on  the  floor.    We  now  come 
to  River  Hall,  extending  from  Great  Relief  to  the  River 
Styx,  which  is  about  60  feet  in  width. 

Bacon  Chamber  comes  next,  and  it  receives  its  name 
from  the  fact  that  small  pieces  of  rock,  hanging  from  the 
ceiling,  resemble  very  much  Bacon  Hams. 

The  next  is  the  u  Dead  Sea."  This  is  a  body  of  water 
15  feet  deep  and  50  feet  in  length,  and  40  feet  below  the 
terrace  that  leads  to  the  natural  bridge.  This  Sea  was 
discovered  when  the  cave  was,  by  passing  over  the  Ter 
race,  which  was  attended  with  great  danger.  We  next 
come  to  the  Lake,  called  the  Lake  Leathe,  500  feet  long 
by  40  feet  wide,  and  from  three  to  thirty  feet  deep  ;  the 
ceiling  over  the  Lake  is  90  feet  high.  Visitors,  in  taking 
the  Long  Route,  cross  this  lake  in  boats.  After  crossing- 
Lake  Leathe  we  strike  the  great  walk  leading  to  Echo 
River,  a  distance  of  1,500  feet ;  the  ceiling  is  40  feet  high, 


16 

and  the  floor  is  covered  with  yellow  sand.  We  now  come 
to  Echo  River,  and  it  is  reached  from  Great  Walk  to  Sil- 
li man's  Avenue,  and  almost  a  mile  long.  The  Avenue 
leading  to  the  river,  at  its  entrance,  is  about  three  feet 
high  ;  but  im mediately  beyond  the  point  of  entrance  it 
spreads  out  some  15  feet  high,  and  varies  in  width  from 
t>()  to  200  feet,  and  in  depth  from  10  to  30  feet.  When 
there  is  no  rise  in  Green  River,  which  is  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  the  water  in  Echo  River  becomes  v<^ry  clear, 
so  much  so  that  rocks  can  be  seen  20  feet  below  the  sur 
face,  and  the  boat  appears  to  be  gliding  through  the  air. 
The  connection  between  Echo  and  Green  River  is  near  the 
commencement  of  Silliman's  Avenue.  When  Green  River- 
is  rising,  Echo  River  runs  in  the  direction  of  Great  Walk. 
When  Green  River  falls,  the  current  in  Echo  River  runs 
in  the  opposite  direction.  The  temperature  of  the  place 
is  always  59  degrees,  and  where  the  water  from  Green 
River  runs  into  Echo  River,  at  a  temperatare  higher  than 
that  of  the  Cave,  a  dense  fog  is  produced,  not  inferior  to 
the  fogs  of  Newfoundland,  and  inexperienced  persons 
have  been  known  to  get  lost  in  the  fog.  A  rise  of  18  feet 
of  water  in  Echo  River  cuts  off  all  communication  with 
the  outer  world.  Among  the  great  curiosities  of  this 
river  are  the  Eyeless  Fish.  These  fish  are  perfectly 
white. 

Afe  we  progress  in  our  journey,  we  come  to  Silliman's 
Avenue,  a  mile  and-a-half  long,  and  extending  from  Echo 
River  to  El  Ghor,  varying  in  height  from  20  feet  to  40 
feet,  in  width  from  20  to  200  feet.  The  walls  of  this  Ave 
nue  are  ragged  and  water-worn,  and  there  is  no  doubt  of 
its  recent  formation,  compared  with  the  other  parts  of  the 
cave.  The  objects  of  interest  in  this  Avenue,  are  as  fol 
lows  : 

1st.  " Cascade  Hall,"  200  feet  in  diameter  and  20  feet  high, 
and  derives  its  name  from  a  small  cascade,  which  falls 
from  the  ceiling  and  the  Avenue  that  leads  to  "  Roar 
ing  River,"  and  takes  its  origin  in  Cascade  Hall. 


17 

2d.  Dipping  Spring,"  a  pool  of  water  supplied  from  the 
ceiling.  Stalactites  and  staglamites  are  found  at  this 
place  in  great  numbers. 

3d.  The  "  Infernal  Regions,  which  receive  its  name  from 
the  fact  that  the  floor  is  composed  of  wet  clay,  and 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  pass  over  it  without  slip 
ping  down. 

4th.  The  "  Sea  Serpent,"  is  a  crevice  in  the  rock  over 
head,  cut  in  by  running  water,  and  presenting  very 
much  the  appearance  of  a  great  serpent. 

5th.  The  "Valley  Wayside,"  is  a  small  avenue  leading 
off  from  Silliman's  Avenue,  and  returning  into  it  a 
short  distance  further  on. 

6th.  "  The  Great  Western,"  which  is  a  large  rock,  many 
times  larger  than  any  vessel  ever  built,  and  the  end 
of  it  closely  resembles  the  stern  of  a  ship. 

8th.  "  The  Rabbits,"  a  large  stone  resembling  very  much 
that  animal. 

9th.  "  Ole  Bull  Concert  Room,"  30  feet  wide  and  20  feet 
high,  not  a  very  big  building  to  hold  a  concert  in  ; 
but  when  Ole  Bull  first  visited  the  cave  he  held  a 
concert  here,  and  hence  the  name  "  Ole  Bull  Concert 
Room." 

10th.  "Silliman's  Avenue,"  named  after  Professor  B.  Sil- 
liman,  of  Yale  College. 

Rhodas  Arcade  arises  in  Silliman's  Avenue,  and  is 
1,500  feet  long  and  10  feet  high.  The  walls  and  ceiling 
are  covered  with  crystals  and  carbonate  of  lime  of  indis- 
cribable  beauty,  and  in  that  respect  there  is  no  avenue 
superior  to  it. 

You  reach  Lucy's  Dome  by  passing  through  Rhodas 
Arcade,  60  feet  in  diameter  and  over  300  feet  high,  being 
the  highest  dome  in  the  cave.  The  sides  have  the  ap 
pearance  of  immense  curtains  reaching  from  the  ceiling 
to  the  floor. 

The  next  in  order  is  the  pass  of  El  Ghor,  resembling 
Silliman's  Avenue,  and  about  two  miles  in  length. 


18 

1st.  The  Hanging  Rocks,  and  they  look  as  if  in  the  act 
of  falling  ;  but  none  have  since  the  discovery  of  the 
cave. 

2d.  The  Ply  Chamber,  so  called  from  the  fact  that  crys 
tals  of  black  gypsum,  of  the  size  of  a  house  fly, 
project  from  the  ceiling  in  great  numbers. 

3d.  The  Table  Rock,  20  feet  long,  and  projecting  from 
the  left  side  of  the  avenue  10  feet,  and  about  two 
feet  in  thickness. 

4h.  "  The  Crown,"  6  feet  in  diameter,  about  10  feet  from 
the  floor,  and  resembling  very  much  the  object  after 
which  it  was  named. 

5th.  Boone's  Avenue  leads  off  to  the  left,  and  has  been 
explored  for  about  half  a  mile  ;  but  nothing  beyond 
is  known  as  to  its  extent  or  dimensions. 

6th.  Corrunes  Dome,  rests  directly  over  the  centre  of  the 
avenue,  and  is  very  beautiful. 

7th.  The  Black  Hall  of  Calcutta  is  on  the  left  side  of  the 
Avenue,  and  about  15  feet  deep. 

8th.  Stella' s  Dome,  which  is  reached  by  passing  through 
a  small  avenue  which  enters  the  left  wall  of  the  pass. 

9th.  The  Chimes,  consist  of  hanging  rocks,  and,  when 
struck,  send  forth  a  musical  sound  like  a  chime  of 
bells. 

10th.  Wellington  Gallery,  is  not  very  attractive,  although 
taking  up  quite  a  space  in  the  cave. 

llth.  Hebe  Spring  is  about  4  feet  in  diameter  and  2J  feet 
deep,  and  charged  with  sulphur.  Fifteen  years  ago 
there  was  no  sulphur  perceptible,  and  even  now, 
when  it  has  not  been  disturbed  for  many  hours,  pure 
water  may  be  dipped  from  its  surface,  and  sulphur 
water  from  the  bottom,  indicating  that  this  spring  is 
supplied  with  two  kinds  of  water,  pure  at  the  top 
and  sulphurous  at  the  bottom. 

12th.  Eyeless  Crowflsh  are  found  in  the  spring. 

13th.  A  half  mile  beyond  Hebe's  Spring,  the  pass  to  the 
El  Ghor  communicates  with  a  body  of  water,  the  ex 
tent  of  which  is  unknown,  and  it  is  called  Mystic 
River. 


19 

Next  we  come  to  Martha's  Vineyard,  20  feet  above  the 
pass  of  El  Ghor,  and  reached  by  a  ladder  near  Hebe' s 
Spring.  The  walls  and  ceiling  are  studded  with  stalac 
tites  of  carburette  of  lime,  and  colored  with  black  oxyd 
of  iron,  which  in  size  and  appearance  resemble  grapes. 
A  large  stalactite  projec.ts  from  the  right  wall,  and  is 
called  the  Battering  Ram. 

We  now  come  to  Washington  Hall  and  Snow-Ball 
room.  Washington  Hall  is  60  feet  wide,  20  feet  high  and 
100  feet  long.  The  visitors  reach  this  point  about  noon, 
and  this  place  is  selected  as  the  Dining  Hall.  Cans  of 
oil  are  kept  here  to  replenish  our  lamps,  which  hold  oil 
enough  for  ten  hours,  but  are  replenished  every  five 
hours. 

The  Snow- Ball  room  is  between  Washington  Hall  and 
Cleveland  Avenue,  and  the  ceiling  is  studded  with  white 
gypsum,  looking  for  the  world  like  snow  balls. 

Now  we  come  to  Cleveland  Avenue,  If  miles  in  length, 
60  feet  wide  and  20  feet  high.  The  walls  and  ceiling  of 
this  avenue  are  literally  lined  with  alabaster  forms  of 
every  conceivable  variety  and  beauty.  On  entering 
Cleveland  Avenue  the  objects  of  special  interest  present 
themselves  in  the  following  order  : 
1st.  Mary's  Bower,  15  feet  high. 

2d.   The  Cross,  made  from  two  crevices  in  the  rock  over 
head,  at  right  angles,  and  lined  with  flowers  of  Plas 
ter  of  Paris.     The  cross  is  8  feet  in  length. 
3rd.  The  Memory  Ceiling. 
4th.  The  Last  Rose  of  Summer,  8  inches  in  diameter  and 

of  snowy  whiteness. 

5th.  The  Dining  Table,  15  feet  wide  and  30  feet  long. 
6th.  Bacchus1  Glory,  an  alcove  3  feet  in  height  and  5  feet 

long,  and  lined  with  grapes  of  gypsum. 
7th.   St.  Ceilla'  s  Grotto,  remarkable  for  the  size  of  stucco 

flowers  to  be  found  in  it. 

8th.  Diamond  Grotto  is  lined  with  crystals  of  selinite, 
and  when  a  light  is  moved  before  them  they  sparkle 
like  diamonds  ;  hence  the  name. 


20 

Mi.    Charlotte's   Grotto,    the    terminus   of  Cleveland's 

Avenue. 
loth.  Cleveland's  Avenue  is  named  in  honor  of  Professor 

Cleveland,  the  distinguished  mineralogist. 
Rocky  Mountains  come  next,  and  they  are  rocks 
fallen  from  above,  and  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  is  a 
stalagmite  2  feet  high  and  6  inches  in  diameter,  termed 
Cleopatra's  Needle.  On  the  far  side  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  is  a  gorge  70  feet  deep,  termed  Dismal  Hol 
low.  The  cave  at  the  mountain  divides  into  three 
branches  :  the  one  to  the  right  leads  to  sandstone,  and  is 
near  the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  the  one  to  the  left  runs  to 
Grogham's  Hall  ;  the  one  in  the  centre  to  Franklin 
Avenue. 

Grogham's  Hall  constitutes  the  end  of  the  long  route 
and  is  70  feet  wide  and  20  feet  high  ;  the  left  wall  is 
covered  with  stalactites,  transparent  in  color  and  of  great 
hardness,  which  are  made  into  ornaments  of  various 
kinds. 

The  Maelstrom  is  a  pit  175  feet  deep  and  20  feet  wide. 
There  are  avenues  running  from  the  bottom,  which  may 
be  seen  when  a  light  is  lowered  down  into  the  pit,  but 
they  have  never  been  fully  explored. 

A  peculiar  kind  of  rat  has  been  found  in  Grogham'  s 
Hall,  and  has  eyes  resembling  those  of  a  rabbit.  The 
hair  is  like  the  gray  squirrel's,  but  the  legs  are  white. 
Cave  crickets  and  lizzards  are  found  here  also.  The  cave 
cricket  is  an  inch  long,  body  yellow,  striped  with  black, 
provided  with  large  eyes,  sluggish  in  their  movements, 
and,  unlike  other  crickets,  they  never  make  a  noise. 
The  cave  lizzard  is  from  three  to  five  inches  in  length, 
eyes  prominent,  body  yellow  and  dotted  with  black 
spots,  and  they  are  semi -transparent,  and  sluggish  in 
their  movements.  The  attendance  of  animal  life  in  this 
part  of  the  cave  indicates  that  there  is  communication 
with  the  surface  of  the  earth  at  no  great  distance.  Bats 
are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  Cave. 

We  are  now  at  the  Gothic  Arcade,  which  is  found  by 


21 

ascending  a  flight  of  steps  15  feet  in  height.    The  objects 
of  note  are : 

1st.  The  Seat  of  the  Mummy,  a  niche  in  the  wall  just 

large  enough  for  a  person  to  sit  in.     The  body  found 

in  this  niche  was  that  of  an  Indian  female,  dressed 

in  the  skins   of  animals  and   ornamented  with  the 

trinkets  belonging  to  the  Indian.     A  few  feet  distant 

was  the  body  of  a  child,  attired  in  a  similar  manner, 

discovered  resting  against  the  wall.     Both  in  a  good 

state  of  preservation.     No  doubt  they  wandered  into 

the  cave,  and,  getting  lost,  sat  down  and  died  in  the 

same  position  in  which  they  were  found. 

On  one    occasion,    a   gentleman    wandered    from   his 

party,  and  by  some   accident  his  lamp  went  out;  and 

endeavoring  to  escape,  he  became  alarmed,  and  finally 

insane,  when,    crawling    behind    a  rock,   he    remained 

in  that   position    48  hours ;    and  although  the  guides 

passed   the  rock  a  number  of  times,  he  did  not  make 

the  slightest  noise,    and,  when    finally    discovered,   he 

tried  to  make  his  escape,  but  was  too  much  exhausted 

to  run. 

A  lady  allowed  her  party  to  get  so  far  ahead  that  their 
voices  could  not  be  heard,  and  in  attempting  to  overtake 
them,  fell  and  extinguished  her  lamp,  when  she  became 
terribly  frightened,  swooned,  and  when  discovered  in  a 
short  time  afterward  she  had  lost  her  mind,  and  did  not 
recover  for  many  years  afterward. 

Not  a  year  passes  but  the  guides  are  obliged  to  search 
for  persons  who  have  been  foolhardy  enough  to  leave 
their  party,  and  who,  in  every  instance,  became  speedily 
bewildered,  and  when  found  were  crying  bitterly  or  say 
ing  their  prayers.  In  such  cases  the  guides  are  over 
powered  with  kisses,  embraces  and  other  demonstrations 
of  gratitude. 

The  proper  course  for  a  person  to  pursue  who  becomes 
lost  in  the  Cave  is  to  remain  in  the  place  where  they  first 
became  confused,  and  not  to  stir  until  rescued  by  the 
guides.  They  will  not  have  to  remain  more  than  from 


22 

three  to  ten  hours  from  the  time  they  should  have  re 
turned  to  the  hotel. 

The  objects  of  interest  in  Gothic  Arcade  are  as  follows  : 

1st.  A  short  distance  from  the  Seat  of  the  Mummy  is  a 
large  stalactite,  extending  from  the  floor  to  the  ceil 
ing,  called  the  Post  Oak,  and  resembles  the  oak  tree 
growing  in  the  neighborhood. 

2d.  The  First  Echo,  the  floor  of  which,  when  struck 
with  some  heavy  metallic  weight,  emits  a  hollow 
sound. 

3rd.  The  Register  Room  is  300  feet  long,  40  feet  wide 
and  16  feet  high.  In  this  room  hundreds  of  persons 
have  displayed  very  ill-taste  in  tracing  on  the  white 
walls  their  names  with  the  smoke  of  the  lamps  or 
candles. 

4th.  Gothic  Hall,  a  large  room,  the  ceiling  sustained  by 
enormous  columns,  which,  lighted  by  our  lamps, 
present  a  beautiful  appearance. 

5th.  Vulcan's  Smithy,  resembling  a  blacksmith's  forge. 

6th.  Bancroft's  Breastwork  consists  of  a  ledge  of  rocks 
detached  from  the  side  of  the  avenue,  against  which 
they  stand. 

7th.  The  Arm  Chair  is  formed  by  the  union  of  stalactites 
and  stalagmites,  forming  a  beautiful  seat  like  a  chair. 

8th.  The  Elephant's  Head,  a  large  stalagmite  projecting 
from  the  floor,  resembling  an  elephant's  head  very 
much. 

9th.  Lover's  Leap  consists  of  a  rock  projecting  15  feet 
over  a  pit  70  feet  deep. 

10th.  Gate  wood's  Dining  Table  is  a  flat  rock  detached 
from  the  ceiling,  12  feet  long  and  8  feet  wide,  and  is 
named  after  one  of  the  saltpetre  miners. 

llth.  Napoleon  Dome  is  50  feet  high  and  30  feet  wide. 

12th.  Lake  Purity  is  a  pool  of  perfectly  transparent 
water,  situated  directly  under  Yulcan's  Smithy. 
The  next  in  order  is  the  Labyrinth  and  Gorham's 
Dome.  The  Labyrinth  is  entered  from  the  deserted 
chamber  by  descending  a  pair  of  stairs.  A  figure  of 
an  American  eagle  is  plainly  seen  upon  the  wall. 


23 

Gorham's  Dome  is  reached  by  passing  over  a  bridge 
and  then  ascending  a  ladder  in  the  Labyrinth.  You  see 
this  dome  from  a  natural  window  half  way  between  the 
floor  and  ceiling  of  the  dome.  It  is  200  feet  high  and  60 
feet  wide.  When  the  far  end  of  the  dome  is  reached,  a 
Bengal  light  is  inserted  in  it,  and  the  view  is  sublime. 
Avenues  connect  with  the  top  and  bottom  of  this  dome. 
Gorham's  Dome  bears  the  name  of  its  discoverer. 

We  now  come  to  Pensacola  Avenue,  which  is  a  mile  in 
lenth,  60  feet  in  height,  and  100  feet  wide,  and  the  follow 
ing  are  the  principal  objects  worthy  of  examination  : 
1st.  The  Sea  Turtle,  30  feet  in  diameter  ;  a  rock  fallen 

from  the  ceiling  and  resembling  a  sea  turtle. 
2d.  The  Wild  Hall,  in  size  and  appearance,  resembles  a 

bandit's  hall. 
3rd.  Snow  Ball  receives  its  name  by  the  appearance  of 

points  in  the  wall,  looking  like  snow  balls. 
4th.  The  Great  Crossing  is  a  point  where  four  great  ave 
nues  commence. 

5th.  Mat's  Arcade,  150  feet  long,  30  feet  wide  and  60  feet 
high.  Also  a  beautiful  collection  of  stalactites  called 
the  Pineapple  Bush. 

I  will  mention  in  conclusion  that  there  are  150  avenues 
in  this  cave — some  have  been  explored,  and  others  have 
not  and  are  never  entered  by  visitors — which  I  have  not 
attempted  to  describe.  The  total  length  of  all  the  ave 
nues  is  over  100  miles.  And  now,  brothers,  I  could  men 
tion  many  other  avenues  in  this  cave,  and  very  interest 
ing  they  would  be  ;  but  without  wearying  your  patience, 
I  will  resume  my  journey  west. 

On  April  7th,  we  left  the  cave  in  a  stage  for  Cave  City, 
about  nine  miles,  to  take  the  cars.  We  went  down  the 
mountain  in  good  order.  No  broken  bones  or  detentions. 
In  the  cars  again,  and  bound  for  Louisville,  and  at  7 
P.  M.,  we  arrived  there,  and  went  to  Louisville  Hotel,  and 
a  pleasant  place  to  stop  in  it  is,  too.  The  next  day  (Sun 
day)  it  rained  all  day.  No  church  for  our  little  party, 
but  kept  our  rooms  writing  down  our  travels,  sending 


24 

home,  and  resting  from  the  fatigue  of  the  day  pre 
vious,  when  in  the  cave  ;  for  we  now  began  to  feel  the 
efforts  madr  during  our  visit  to  the  cave. 

At  about  noon  the  next  day,  April  9,  we  again  took  the 
cars  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad— a  very 
straight  road,  running  through  many  miles  of  prairie 
land,  cut  up  into  large  farms,  and  under  good  cultivation, 
especially  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  It  has  rained  all  day, 
and  the  streams  are  very  much  swollen.  The  bridges  on 
the  road  have  to  be  watched  closely,  as  the  country  is 
flooded  everywhere.  The  farmers  are  very  much  dis 
couraged,  as  they  are  trying  to  finish  up  their  spring 
work  and  planting. 

We  are  to-day,  while  it  rains  very  hard  outside,  taking 
our  comfort  and  ease  in  our  drawing-room  car.  We  are 
shut  out  from  all  other  passengers,  and  spend  the  time 
reading,  telling  stories,  singing  (for  we  have  a  splendid 
singer  with  us,  Mrs.  W.  Gregory),  or  looking  out 
the  window  at  the  sights  as  they  pass  along,  and 
truly  we  could  not  enjoy  ourselves  any  better  if  we 
were  in  our  own  parlors  at  home.  At  9  P.M.,  we  crossed 
that  great  river  of  rivers,  the  Mississippi,  over  that  great 
iron  tubular  bridge  at  St.  Louis,  the  greatest  piece  of 
engineering  skill  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world.  It 
has  a  history  familiar  to  most  of  us,  but  had  I  the  time 
I  would  give  you  some  of  the  particulars  of  its  construc 
tion.  I  will  mention  one  fact  only  :  the  original  estimate 
of  the  cost  was  $4,000,000,  but  when  finished  it  cost 
$13,000,000. 

On  entering  St.  Louis  the  cars  pass  through  a  tunnel, 
and  come  out  on  the  other  side  of  the  city,  and  then  enter 
a  large  depot,  and  at  9:40  P.  M.  we  are  ready  to  start  for 
Omaha ;  but  our  little  company,  feeling  very  tired, 
wanted  to  stay  at  Louisville  over  night,  and  go  to  the 
Southern  Hotel,  and  in  the  morning  start  on  our  journey 
again.  My  idea  was  to  pass  on  that  night,  and  thus  gain 
so  much  time.  It  finally  ended  in  our  going  on  that 
night,  and  we  arrived  at  Omaha  the  next  morning.  The 


25 

first  thing  I  heard  the  next  morning  was  an  "Extra" 
out,  giving  a  description  of  the  burning  of  the  Southern 
Hotel,  at  St.  Louis,  and  many  lives  were  lost.  I  bought 
the  paper,  rushed  up  to  our  rooms,  and  read  the  news  to 
our  little  party,  and  I  can  say,  Brothers,  for  a  time  there 
was  weeping  among  us  for  joy,  to  think  of  what  a 
calamity  we  had  all  escaped  ;  for  when  guests  remain 
only  a  short  time  (especially  if  the  hotel  is  full)  they  are 
invariably  given  rooms  on  the  top  floors,  and  those  who 
read  of  this  terrible  accident  will  remember  that  the 
guests  on  the  upper  floors  fared  the  worst. 

After  that  there  was  no  backing  or  filling,  each  one  to 
have  his  or  her  way,  but  it  was  decided  to  do  just  as  I 
said.  Now  to  return.  We  took  the  train  for  Omaha,  ar 
rived  safe,  and  went  to  the  Grand  Central  Hotel,  and 
next  morning  took  seats  in  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
trains  of  cars  made  up  by  any  railroad  in  the  United 
States.  Everything  is  first  class.  Pullman  sleeping 
coaches  are  attached  to  this  train,  and  all  travelers  know 
how  finely  they  are  furnished,  and  how  they  tend  to  re 
lieve  the  wearisome  monotony  of  tedious  days  in  the 
journey  from  ocean  to  ocean.  At  this  depot  we  find  all 
the  waiting-rooms,  ticket-offices,  baggage- rooms,  lunch - 
stands,  news  and  book- stands,  together  with  one  of  the 
best-kept  eating-houses  in  the  country,  with  books  and 
papers  to  while  away  our  leisure  hours.  We  are  finally 
ready  for  a  start.  The  bell  rings  ;  the  whistle  shrieks, 
and  off  we  go.  We  have  one  of  the  rooms  in  the  Pull 
man  coach  all  to  ourselves,  and  we  are  shut  out  from  all 
intruders,  and  as  we  are  by  ourselves,  we  are,  as  if  at 
home,  enjoying  ourselves  as  we  travel  westward. 


LECTURE  NO.  2. 


The  first  thing  of  notice  is  the  streams  of  water  running1 
in  every  direction  ;  at  least  it  appears  so  from  the  windows 
of  our  car,  the  country  being  very  level,  that  every 
declivity  or  elevation  of  the  earth  will  turn  a  stream. 

The  White  River  and  the  Wabash  River  are  the  two 
large  rivers  first  passed  going  over  the  plains.  The  b  ouses 
are  small  and  mostly  thatch  work.  It  is  wonderful  to 
see  the  level  plains  ;  miles  and  miles  of  prairie  land  are 
passed  ;  no  trees  of  any  kind  are  seen  for  many  miles. 

We  are  now  passing  through  a  lovely  prairie  land, 
mostly  tilled  by  farmers  from  the  East. 

We  do  not  see  any  fences  for  many  miles.  They  have 
a  day  out  here  called  "Arbur  Day,"  and  on  that  day  all 
persons  who  have  charge  of  farms  and  land  stop  all 
work  and  plant  young  trees  from  early  morn  until  late 
at  night,  and  among  the  farmers  this  day  is  kept  by 
seeing  who  can  plant  the  greatest  number  of  trees.  The 
Government  pays  a  certain  bounty  for  the  greatest  number 
of  trees  planted  on  that  day  by  any  one  person,  and  this 
day  is  held  on  the  18th  of  April  i  i  each  year. 

We  next  come  to  the  Platte  River,  a  large  stream 
running  through  the  Platte  Valley.  This  valley  is  about 
twenty  miles  wide,  and  is  owned  by  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  ;  for  this  company  own  twenty  miles  of  land  on 
either  side  of  the  track,  which  they  sell  to  farmers  and 
others. 

We  are  to-day  passing  through  the  grasshopper 
country,  and  the  farmers  here  are  much  troubled  about 
this  destroying  insect,  many  of  them  are  over  nine  inches 
long,  and  are  ferocious  looking  indeed  ;  and  I  have  the 
boss  of  them  preserved  in  a  bottle,  in  liquor,  for  exhibi 
tion.  He  is  the  commander  of  the  grasshopper  brigade 


27 

out  West,  and  the  story  runs  that  he,  with  his  army,  after 
cleaning  out  all  the  grain  fields  in  the  neighborhood,  took 
the  next  express  train  for  another  section  of  the  country. 
While  in  transit  the  Herald  newsboy  came  along  through 
the  cars  selling  the  paper  ;  the  Grasshopper  Boss  bought 
a  copy,  and  looking  over  the  news  found  this  item — saying 
that  the  grasshoppers  had  migrated  to  parts  unknown, 
but  they  had  left  one  field,  belonging  to  a  poor  man,  un 
touched.  The  boss  felt  mad  ;  laid  down  the  paper  ;  put 
his  spectacles  in  his  pocket ;  pulled  the  bell-rope,  and 
stopped  the  train ;  ordered  off  his  brigade,  and  took  the 
next  express  train  back  to  the  poor  man's  farm  ;  and  I, 
at  a  great  expense,  collected  an  army  of  wild  western 
turkey  gobblers;  met  this  advancing  host  of  grasshop 
pers  ;  charged  upon  mine  enemy  ;  destroyed  them  ;  saved 
the  poor  man' s  wheat-field,  and  captured  the  boss  him 
self  ;  had  him  preserved  in  whisky  ;  ordered  him  (by  ex 
press)  home,  and  I  have  the  animal  here  to-night  on 
exhibition.  Ladies  and  friends  please  examine  him.  Is 
he  not  all  that  I  represent  him  to  be  \ 

As  I  look  out  of  our  window,  I  behold  numerous 
prairies  on  fire,  for  the  country  is  very  dry  and  dusty, 
and  the  prairie  grass  burns  very  easily,  and  during  the 
first  night's  ride  westward  from  Omaha,  we  gaze  out  of 
our  car  windows  at  the  great  prairies  seen  all  around  us. 

These  prairies,  which  in  the  day  time  seemed  dry,  dull 
and  uninteresting,  gave  place  at  night  to  the  lurid  play 
of  the  fire  fiend,  and  the  heavens  and  the  horizon  seem 
like  a  furnace. 

A  prairie  on  fire  is  a  fearfully  exciting  and  fear-in 
spiring  sight  ;  cheeks  blanche  as  the  wind  sweeps  its 
volume  toward  the  observer,  and  as  the  train  comes  near 
the  flames,  leap  higher  and  higher,  and  the  smoke  forms 
a  dark  background,  from  which  is  reflected  the  fire's 
brilliantly-tinged  light. 

Far  out  on  the  prairies,  beyond  the  settlements,  the 
fires  rage  unchecked  for  miles  and  miles,  but  nearer  to 
the  little  settlement,  where  the  cabin  has  been  set  up,  it  is 


28 

the  deadliest  for  and  most  dreaded  enemy  of  the  settler. 
No  words  can  describe  ;  no  pencil  paint  the  look  of  terror 
when  he  beholds  advancing  toward  him  the  fire  fiend;  for, 
while  he  is  unprepared  and  unprotected,  when  the  first 
sign  of  fire  is  given,  all  hands  turn  out.  Either  a  counter 
fire  is  started,  which,  eating  from  the  little  settler's 
ranche,  in'  the  face  of  the  wind,  toward  the  grand  coming 
volume,  takes  away  its  force,  and  stops  its  progress  by 
leaving  it  nothing  to  feed  on,  or  else  furrows  are  broken 
with  a  plow  around  the  settler's  home.  The  cool  earth  is 
then  thrown  up,  and  all  the  grass  beyond  is  fired,  while 
the  house  enclosed  within  is  safe.  These  fires  create  a 
strong  current,  or  breeze,  by  their  own  heat,  and  often 
advance  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour  or  more,  and 
the  terrible  lurid  light  by  night,  and  the  blackened  path 
left  behind,  as  seen  the  next  day  by  the  traveler,  are 
sights  never  to  be  forgotten. 

I  have  been  rather  long  in  describing  to  you  prairie 
fires,  but  I  thought  the  subject  needed  it,  and,  therefore, 
you  will  please  excuse  the  time  taken. 

Friday,  April  12th. — We  are  still  passing  over  the 
Nebraska  plains,  and  are  now  in  the  alkali  plains.  The 
water  here  is  not  fit  to  drink,  being  impregnated  very 
much  with  lime.  On  either  side  we  behold  myriads  of 
cattle  feeding  on  the  prairie  grass.  A  Mr.  Iliff,  who 
lives  near  by,  owns  over  40,000  head  of  cattle,  and  has  a 
ranch  over  150  miles  for  them  to  graze  on.  We  are  pass 
ing  through  his  land  now,  and  we  behold  cattle  on  either 
side  of  us  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

It  does  not  often  rain  here,  and  they  have  had  little  or 
no  rain  for  the  past  fifteen  months,  and  every  thing  looks 
dry  and  parched;  but  the  farmers  say  they  do  not  want 
any  rain  now  until  the  Fall.  Cattle  are  now  feeding  on 
hay,  drying  on  the  plains,  which  rain  would  spoil  to  such 
an  extent  the  cattle  would  refuse  to  eat  it  and  starve  in 
consequence. 

Very  often  we  pass  small  streams  of  water,  and  around 
these  streams  stock  most  do  congregate. 


We  have  now  passed  through  the  first  snow  shed,  at 
an  elevation  of  some  6,000  feet.  Our  train  is  drawn  by 
two  powerful  locomotives.  In  one  day  we  have  ascended 
nearly  5,000  feet.  We  are  also  passing  through  snow 
drifts,  many  of  them  over  seven  feet  deep. 

After  leaving  the  great  cattle  ranch,  we  come  to  the 
great  Platte  Valley,  from  a  place  called  Fremont.  This 
valley  is  from  five  to  fifteen  miles  wide,  and,  before  the 
railroad  was  built,  was  the  great  highway  for  overland 
travel  to  the  far  West.  Leaving  the  Mississippi  River 
at  different  points,  the  emigrants'  route  would  lead 
through  this  valley. 

The  luxurious  grasses  near  the  water  of  the  Platte 
River  made  this  a  favorite  route.  This  valley  has  also 
been  the  scene  of  many  deadly  conflicts  with  "Lo,  the 
poor  Indian,"  and  many  an  emigrant  lies  buried  beneath 
some  rough  and  hastily  made  mound  near  the  roadway, 
minus  his  scalp,  or  his  bones  lie  bleaching  in  the  sun  at 
noonday. 

But  a  wonderful  change  took  place  when  the  railroad 
was  run  through  this  place.  The  4 '  bull  whacker,' '  with 
his  white-covered  wagon  and  rawboned  oxen,  his  slang 
phrases  and  profane  expressions,  his  rough  life,  and,  in 
many  instances,  his  violent  death,  the  crack  of  his  long 
lash,  that  would  ring  out  in  the  clear  morning  air  like  a 
rifle,  and  his  wicked  goad  ox-prong,  an  instrument  of 
torture  to  his  beasts;  I  say  all  this  has  passed  away, 
their  glory  has  departed,  and  in  their  place  the  snorting 
engine  and  the  thundering  train. 

Through  this  valley  are  many  farm  houses,  surrounded 
with  the  cotton  wood  tree,  similar  to  our  poplar  tree. 
These  trees  have  been  planted  by  the  farmer  in  the  last 
six  or  eight  years,  and  their  growth  is  enormous.  Trees 
sixty  feet  high  and  eight  to  ten  inches  thick  are  no  un 
common  result  of  a  six  or  eight  years'  growth. 

One  of  the  finest  sights  for  an  Eastern  traveler  is  to 
see  Platte  Valley  in  the  Spring  or  early  Summer,  and 
the  farmer  from  the  East  is  more  than  surprised  to  see 


30 

such  a  beautiful  valley,  all  ready  to  receive  the  seed 
without  any  preparation  other  than  the  breaking  of  the 
ground;  no  stumps,  no  stones,  no  underbrush  or  any 
thing  to  prevent  him  from  going  right  to  work  on  his 
farm. 

Platte  Valley  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  Only  a 
few  years  ago  it  was  hardly  tenanted  by  any  one  but  the 
dirty  redskins;  to-day  the  farmer  strides  over  their  broad 
sides,  monarch  of  all  he  surveys.  But  there  is  ample 
room  for  many  more  yet  to  come,  and  the  land  can  be 
bought  from  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  at  from  three  to 
ten  dollars  per  acre.  . 

I  will  give  you  a  description  of  one  farmer  on  the 
Platte  Valley,  who  came  from  one  of  the  Eastern  States 
with  very  little  cash.  He  bought  his  farm  from  the  rail 
road  company  in  1867,  and  up  to  1874,  seven  years,  he 
cultivated,  in  wheat  and  corn,  on  an  average  130  acres. 
His  receipts  from  these  two  crops  in  seven  years  were 
$13,314;  his  expenses  $4,959,  leaving  a  net  increase  of 
$8,355,  besides  increase  in  the  value  of  the  land,  fully 
$2,000  more;  and  this  was  done  on  a  capital  of  less  than 
$2,000  at  the  beginning.  The  winds,  which  blow  mostly 
from  the  west,  are  very  constant  and  .often  very  high, 
making  shelter  of  great  importance  to  stock  and  fruit 
trees;  hence  the  importance  of  planting  trees  around  the 
house  and  barns  ;  and,  as  I  told  you  a  few  moments  ago, 
these  farmers  devote,  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  much 
time  to  the  planting  of  trees,  and  the  rapidity  of  growth 
in  the  rich  soil  reminds  one  of  the  growth  of  trees  and 
fruit  in  the  South.  Walnut  trees,  in  eight  years,  have 
measured  22  inches  around  and  30  feet  high.  Maple 
trees,  12  years'  growth,  have  measured  43  inches  round 
four  feet  from  the  ground,  and  white  willow  45  inches 
round  of  twelve  years'  growth. 

I  mentioned  the  immense  number  of  cattle  seen  on 
these  plains.  The  question  is  asked,  how  does  an  owner 
know  his  own  stock. 

Well,  they  have  ranches  at  certain  places,  a  plot  of 


31 

land  fenced  in,  and  a  one-story  thatched  roof  cottage  put 
up  inside  for  the  use  of  the  rangers  or  herders,  as  they 
are  called. 

I  have  been  in  some  of  them,  and  I  say  here  to-night, 
that  any  farmer  in  this  section  of  the  country  has  his  hog 
pen  in  a  more  respectable  condition  than  these  cottages 
out  West,  intended  for  people  to  live  in. 

These  rangers  or  herders  are  men  who  have  charge  of 
a  herd  of  cattle,  and  one  herder,  with  his  mustang,  can 
take  care  of  many  thousand  head  of  cattle.  These  cattle 
take  care  of  themselves.  Once  a  year  the  cattle  on  the 
plains  are  driven  into  the  ranches;  then  they  are  branded 
by  the  herders  on  the  right  hind  hip  with  a  burning  iron 
into  the  flesh  the  first  letter  of  the  surname  of  the  owner. 
They  are  then  let  loose  again  to  hunt  food  for  themselves, 
until  the  time  comes  to  ship  them  off  to  market,  which 
happens  as  often  as  the  owner  is  in  want  of  money. 

These  herders  are  a  peculiar  kind  of  people.  I  will 
describe  them:  With  long  hair  and  beard,  wide-rimmed 
hats  (Buffalo  Bill  style),  the  best  fitting  boots  that 
money  can  buy,  long  spurs  jingling  at  their  heels,  a 
small  arsenal  of  Colt's  revolvers  and  Bowie  knives 
strapped  to  their  waist,  and  their  chief  pleasure  is  to  be 
in  a  row.  Their  chief  drink  is  whisky  straight,  and  they 
usually  seem  to  feel  better  when  they  have  killed  some 
body.  Houses  of  prostitution,  gin  mills  and  gambling 
hells  follow  in  their  wake. 

They  are  generous  to  their  friends  and  revengeful  to 
their  enemies.  Human  life  is  of  but  little  account  with 
them.  Their  life  is  one  of  continued  exposure  and  very 
laborious.  They  are  perfect  horsemen,  usually  in  the 
saddle  16  hours  out  of  every  24,  and  their  great  ambi 
tion  is  to  become  a  "  devil  of  a  fellow."  Nor  does  it  re 
quire  much  on  their  part  to  fill  the  bill.  Thousands  of 
them  on  the  plains  have  died  with  their  boots  on,  and  we 
suppose  thousands  more  will  perish  the  same  way.  Liv 
ing  violent  lives,  of  course  they  meet  with  violent  deaths. 
They  are  a  peculiar  people,  answering  a  peculiar  end, 


32 

for  almost  99  out  of  every  100  go  down  to  the  vile  dust 
from  whence  they  sprung,  unkempt,  unhonored  and 
unsung. 

The  crops  of  this  valley  are  various.  Splendid  crops  of 
wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley,  broom  corn,  potatoes,  cabbages 
and  onions  aiv  raised  in  great  quantities  during  variable 
seasons,  but  raising  stock  is  the  most  SUIT  pay  in  the 
long  run,  for  Horace  Greeley  says  (in  his  life),  that  it 
costs  no  more  to  raise  a  cow  on  the  prairies  than  a  chicken 
here,  and  I  believe  the  philosopher  was  right. 

In  our  travels  we  came  to  a  town  called  Plum  Creek, 
named  after  a  creek  on  the  other  side  of  the  Platte  River. 
The  town  is  the  center  of  a  number  of  stage  routes  run 
ning  into  the  surrounding  country  and  the  mines. 

There  was  a  battle  fought  with  the  Indians  during  the 
building  of  the  railroad  here  in  1867  through  this  town, 
by  a  band  of  "Cheyenne/1  under  a  chief  called  "  Turkey 
Leg.'1  This  same  beautiful  "Lo"  now  draws  his  rations 
and  whisky  straight  from  Uncle  Sam,  at  the  Red  Cloud 
Agency.  This  Turkey  Leg  is  a  vicious  looking  fellow, 
and  his  appearance  naturally  suggests  a  hanging  bee  at 
the  next  lamp-post.  I  watched  this  develish-looking 
beast  up  and  down  the  platform  for  some  time,  so  much 
so  that  he  noticed  it,  He  then  goes  and  whispers  to 
another  beautiful  "Lo,"  and  pointing  to  me,  he  made  a 
demonstration  very  significant  about  taking  off  my  scalp. 
I  took  my  hat  oif,  bowed  very  low,  and  this  fiend  in 
carnate  looked  at  me  with  the  utmost  contempt,  and  I 
heard  something  like  this  coming  from  him:  "Adam 
big  lie,  no  scalp." 

I  will  relate  to  you  an  account  of  the  fight  that  this 
beautiful  "  Lo"  was  chief  in,  and  it  is  as  follows  : 

"  While  the  railroad  was  being  built,  the  engineers, 
graders  and  tracklayers  were  frequently  driven  from  their 
work  by  the  Indians.  Not  only  then  but  after  the  track 
was  laid  and  trains  running.  It  was  sometimes  torn  up 
and  trains  ditched,  causing  loss  of  lives  and  destruction 
of  property.  One  of  these  attacks  took  place  near  Plum 


33 

Creek,  as  we  will  now  relate  :  In  July,  1867,  a  train  was 
ditched  about  four  miles  west  of  the  above  named  station. 
It  was  by  a  band  of  Southern  Cheyennes,  under  a  chief 
called  Turkey  Leg,  who  now  draws  his  rations  regularly 
from  Uncle  Sam,  at  the  Red  Cloud  Agency.  He  is  a 
vicious  looking  fellow,  his  appearance  naturally  sug 
gesting  him  as  a  fit  subject  for  a  hanging  bee.  At  a 
small  bridge,  or  culvert,  over  a  dry  ravine,  they  had 
lifted  the  iron  rails  from  their  chairs  on  the  ties — raising 
only  one  end  of  each  rail — about  three  feet,  piling  up 
ties  under  them  for  support,  and  firmly  lashing  the  ties 
and  rails  together  by  wire  cut  from  the  adjoining  tele 
graph  line.  They  were  pretty  cunning  in  this  arrange 
ment  of  the  rails,  and  evidently  placed  them  where  they 
thought  they  would  penetrate  the  cylinder  on  each  side  of 
the  engine,  but  not  having  a  mechanical  turn  of  mind  ex 
actly,  and  disregarding  the  slight  curve  in  the  road  at 
this  point,  they  missed  their  calculation,  as  the  sequel 
shows,  as  one  of  the  rails  did  no  execution  whatever 
and  the  other  went  straight  into  and  through  the  boiler. 
After  they  had  fixed  the  rails  in  the  manner  described, 
they  retired  to  where  the  bench  or  second  bottom  slopes 
down  to  the  first,  and  there  concealed  themselves  in  the 
tall  grass  waiting  for  the  train.  Before  it  left  Plum 
Creek,  a  hand  car,  with  three  section  men,  was  sent 
ahead  as  a  pilot.  This  car  encountered  the  obstacle  and 
entered  the  ravine,  bruising  and  stunning  the  men  and 
frightening  them  so  that  they  were  unable  to  signal  to  the 
approaching  train.  As  soon  as  the  car  landed  at  the  bot 
tom  of  the  ravine,  the  Indians  rushed  up,  when  two  of  the 
men,  least  hurt,  ran  away  in  the  darkness  of  the  night — 
it  was  a  little  past  midnight — and  hid  in  the  tall  grass 
near  by.  The  other,  more  stunned  by  the  fall  of  the  car, 
was  scalped  by  the  savages,  and  as  the  knife  of  the 
savage  passed  under  his  scalp  he  seemed  to  realize  his 
condition  partly,  and,  in  his  delerium,  widly  threw  his 
arms  out  and  snatched  the  scalp  from  the  Indian  who 
had  just  lifted  it  from  his  scull.  With  this  he,  too,  got 


34 

away  in  the  darkness,  and  he  is  now  an  employee  of  the 
Company  at  Omaha.  But  the  fated  train  came  on  with 
out  any  knowledge  of  what  had  transpired  in  front.  As 
the  engine  approached  the  ravine,  the  head-light  gleam 
ing  out  in  the  darkness  in  the  dim  distance,  fast  growing 
less  and  less,  the  engineer,  Brooks  Bowers  by  name,  but 
familiarly  called  4  Bully  Brooks"  by  the  railroad  men, 
saw  that  the  rails  were  misplaced,  whistled  'down 
brakes,'  and  reversed  his  engine,  but  all  too  late  to  stop 
the  train.  The  door  of  the  fire  box  was  open  and  the 
fireman  was  in  the  act  of  adding  fuel  to  the  flames 
within  when  the  crash  came.  That  fireman  was  named 
Hendershot,  and  the  boys  used  to  speak  of  him  as  the 
£  Drummer  Boy  of  the  Rappahannock,'  as  he  bore  the 
same  name  and  might  have  been  the  same  person  whose 
heroic  deeds,  in  connection  with  Burnside's  attack  on 
Fredericksburg,  are  now  matters  of  history.  He  was 
thrown  against  the  fire-box,  when  the  ravine  was  reached, 
and  literally  roasted  alive ;  nothing  but  a  few  of  his 
bones  being  afterwards  found.  The  engineer  was  thrown 
over  the  lever  he  was  holding  in  his  hands,  through  the 
window  of  his  cab,  some  twenty  feet  or  more.  In  his 
flight  the  lever  caught  and  ripped  open  his  abdomen, 
and  when  found  he  was  sitting  on  the  ground  holding  his 
protruding  bowels  in  his  hands.  Next  to  the  engine 
were  two  flat  cars  loaded  with  brick  ;  these  were  landed, 
brick  and  all,  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  front  of  the 
engine,  while  the  box  cars,  loaded  with,  freight,  were 
thrown  upon  the  engine  and  around  the  wreck  in  great 
disorder  ;  after  a  time  these  took  fire  and  added  horror 
to  the  scene.  The  savages  now  swarmed  around  the 
train  and  whooped  and  yelled  in  great  glee.  When  the 
shock  first  came,  however,  the  conductor  ran  ahead  on 
the  north  side  of  the  track  to  the  engine,  and  there  saw 
Bowers  and  Hendershot  in  the  position  we  have  described 
them.  He  told  them  he  must  leave  them  and  flag  the 
second  section  of  the  train  following  after,  or  it,  too, 
would  be  wrecked.  He  then  ran  back,  signaled  this 


35 

train,  and  with  it  returned  to  Plum  Creek.  Arriving 
there  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  in  vain  did  he  try  to  get 
a  force  of  men  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  scene  of  the  dis 
aster.  No  one  would  go.  In  the  morning,  however, 
they  railed,  armed  themselves  and  went  out  to  the  wreck, 
By  this  time  it  was  near  10  o'clock  ;  the  burning  box-cars 
had  fallen  around  the  brave  engineer,  and  while  the  fiery 
brands  had  undoubtedly  added  to  his  agony,  they  had  also 
ended  his  earthly  existence.  His  blackened  and  charred 
remains  only  told  of  his  suffering.  The  rescuing  party 
found  the  train  still  burning  ;  the  Indians  had  obtained  all 
the  plunder  they  could  carry  and  left  in  the  early  morning. 
In  the  first  gray  dawn  of  the  morning  they  manifested 
their  delight  over  the  burning  train  in  every  possible 
way,  and  their  savage  glee  knew  no  bounds.  From  the 
cars  not  then  burned,  they  rolled  out  boxes  and  bales  of 
merchandize,  from  which  they  took  colored  flannels, 
calicos  and  other  fancy  goods.  Bolts  of  these  goods  they 
would  loosen  and  with  one  end  tied  to  their  ponies'  tails, 
or  the  horn  of  their  saddles,  they  would  mount  and  start 
at  full  gallop  up  and  down  the  prairie  just  to  see  the 
bright  colors  streaming  in  the  wind  behind  them.  But 
the  end  of  this  affair  was  not  yet ;  the  avenging  hand  of 
justice  was  on  the  track  of  these  blood-thirsty  villains, 
who,  for  some  inscrutable  reason,  are  permitted  to  wear 
the  human  form.  In  the  Spring  of  that  year,  by  order 
of  Gen.  Augur,  then  in  command  of  the  military  depart 
ment  of  the  Platte,  Major  Frank  North,  of  Columbus, 
Neb.,  who  had  had  no  little  experience  in  the  business, was 
authorized  to  raise  a  batallion  of  two  hundred  Pawnee 
Indians,  who  were  peaceable  and  friendly  towards  the 
whites,  and  whose  reservation  is  near  Columbus,  for 
scouting  duty.  It  was  the  old  experiment  of  fighting 
the  devil  with  fire  to  be  tried  over  again. 

The  scouts  were  to  fight  the  various  hostile  bands  of 
the  Sioux,  Arrapahoes,  and  Cheyennes,  and  assist  in 
guarding  the  railroad  and  the  railroad  builders.  At  the 
time  this  train  was  attacked,  these  scouts  were  scattered 


36 

in  small  detachments  along  the  line  of  the  road  between 
Sidney  and  the  Laramie  plains.  General  Augur  was 
immediately  notified  of  it,  and  he  telegraphed  Major 
North  to  take  the  nearest  company  of  his  scouts  and 
repair  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster. 
At  that  time  Major  North  was  about  fourteen  miles  west 
of  Sidney,  at  the  end  of  the  track,  and  his  nearest  com 
pany  was  some  twelve  miles  further  on.  Mounting  his 
horse,  he  rode  to  their  camp  in  about  fifty  minutes,  got 
his  men  together,  and  leaving  orders  for  the  wagons  to 
follow,  returned,  arriving  at  the  end  of  the  track  about 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  By  the  time  these  men  and 
horses  were  loaded  on  the  cars,  the  wagons  had  arrived, 
and  by  5  o'clock  the  train  pulled  out.  Arriving  at  Jules- 
burg  they  were  attached  to  a  passenger  train,  and  by 
midnight,  or  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  disaster 
took  place,  he  arrived  at  the  scene.  Meanwhile  other 
white  troops,  stationed  near-by,  had  arrived.  In  the 
morning  he  was  ordered  by  General  Augur  to  follow  the 
trail  and  ascertain  whether  the  attack  had  been  made  by 
Northern  or  Southern  Indians.  With  ten  men  he 
started  on  the  scout.  The  sharp-sighted  Pawnees  soon 
struck  the  trail.  They  found  where  the  hostile  band  had 
crossed  the  river,  and  where  they  had  abandoned  some 
of  their  plunder.  They  followed  the  trail  all  day,  and 
found  that  it  bore  south  to  the  Republican  Valley.  From 
this  fact,  and  other  indications  that  only  Indians  would 
notice,  he  ascertained  that  the  attacking  band  were 
Southern  Cheyennes.  Returning  from  this  scout,  after 
about  thirty-five  miles  travel,  he  reported  to  the  com 
manding  officer  at  Omaha,  and  received  orders  to  remain 
in  the  vicinity  and  thoroughly  scout  the  country,  the 
belief  being  generally  entertained  among  the  officers  that, 
if  not  followed,  the  Indians  would  soon  return  on  another 
raid.  Subsequent  events  proved  this  belief  to  be  true, 
and  they  had  not  long  to  wait.  In  about  ten  days,  their 
camp  being  at  Plum  Creek,  one  of  the  scouts  came  run 
ning  into  camp  from  the  bluffs  south  of  Plum  Creek,  and 
reported  that  the  Indians  were  coming. 


37 

He  had  discovered  them  in  the  distance,  making  their 
way  in  the  direction  of  the  old  overland  stage  station, 
which  they  soon  after  reached.  Arriving  here,  they  un 
saddled  their  horses  and  turned  them  loose  in  an  old 
sod  corral  to  feed  and  rest.  They  then  began  prepar 
ations  to  remain  all  night.  The  scouts,  however,  pro 
posed  to  find  out  who  and  what  they  were  before  evening 
approached.  Major  North  first  determined  to  go  with 
the  company  himself,  but,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of 
Captain  James  Murie,  finally  gave  him  charge  of  the 
expedition.  There  were  in  the  command  two  white  com 
missioned  officers — Lieut.  Isaac  Davis,  besides  the  Cap 
tain — two  white  servants,  and  forty-eight  Pawnees.  The 
company  marched  from  their  camp  straight  south  to  the 
Platte  River,  which  they  crossed  ;  then  turning  to  the 
left,  followed  down  its  bank,  under  the  bushes,  to  within 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  creek.  Here  they  were  discovered 
by  the  Cheyennes.  Then  there  was  mounting  in  hot 
haste — the  Cheyennes  at  once  preparing  for  the  fray. 

There  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors  to  be  pitted 
against  this  small  band  of  fifty-two,  all  told.  But  the 
Cheyennes,  up  to  this  time,  supposed  they  were  to  fight 
white  soldiers,  and  were  very  confident  of  victory.  Form 
ing  in  regular  line,  on  they  rushed  to  the  conflict.  Cap 
tain  Murie' s  command,  as  soon  as  they  found  they  were 
discovered,  left  the  bushes  on  the  river  bank  and  went 
up  into  the  road,  where  they  formed  in  line  of  battle 
and  were  ordered  to  charge.  As  the  order  was  given,  the 
Pawnees  set  up  their  war-whoop,  slapped  their  breasts 
with  their  hands,  and  shouted  "  Pawnees  !"  The  oppos 
ing  lines  met  on  the  banks  of  the  creek,  through  which 
the  scouts  charged  with  all  their  speed.  The  Cheyennes 
immediately  broke  and  fled  in  great  confusion,  every  man 
for  himself.  Then  followed  the  chase,  the  killing,  and 
the  scalping.  The  Indians  took  their  old  trail  for  the 
Republican  Valley,  and  put  their  horses  to  the  utmost 
speed  to  escape  the  deadly  fire  of  the  Pawnees.  Night 
finally  ended  the  chase,  and  when  the  spoils  were 


38 

gathered,  it  was  found  that  fifteen  Cheyenne  warriors 
had  been  made  to  bite  the  dust,  and  their  scalps  had  been 
taken  as  trophys  of  victory.  Two  prisoners  were  also 
taken  ;  one  a  boy  of  about  sixteen  years,  and  the  other  a 
squaw.  The  boy  was  a  nephew  of  Turkey  Leg,  the 
chief.  Thirty-five  horses  and  mules  were  also  taken, 
while  not  a  man  of  the  scouts  was  hurt.  After  the  chase 
had  ceased,  a  rain-storm  set  in,  and,  tired  with  their 
day's  work,  with  the  trophies  of  their  victory  they  re 
turned  to  camp.  It  was  about  midnight  when  they  ar 
rived.  Major  North  and  a  company  of  infantry,  under 
command  of  Captain  John  A.  Miller,  had  remained  in 
camp,  guarding  government  and  company  property,  and 
knowing  that  a  battle  had  been  fought,  were  intensely 
anxious  to  learn  the  result.  When  the  Pawnees  came 
near,  it  was  with  shouts  and  whoops  and  songs  of  victory. 
They  exhibited  their  scalps  and  paraded  their  prisoners 
with  great  joy,  and  spent  the  whole  night  in  scalp  dances 
and  wild  revelry.  This  victory  put  an  end  to  attacks  on 
railroad  trains  by  the  Cheyennes.  The  boy  and  squaw 
were  kept  in  the  canip  of  the  Pawnees  until  late  in  the 
season,  when  a  big  council  was  held  with  the  Brule 
Sioux,  Spotted  Tail's  band,  at  North  Platte,  to  make  a 
new  treaty. 

Hearing  of  this  council,  Turkey  Leg,  Chief  of  the 
Cheyennes,  sent  in  a  runner  and  offered  to  deliver  up  six 
white  captives  held  in  his  band  for  the  return  of  the  boy 
and  the  squaw.  After  the  necessary  preliminaries  had 
been  effected,  the  runner  was  told  to  bring  the  white  cap 
tives,  that  the  exchange  might  be  made.  The  boy  held 
by  the  scouts  was  understood  to  be  of  royal  lineage,  and 
was  expected  to  succeed  Turkey  Leg  in  the  chieftaincy  of 
the  tribe. 

After  the  exchange  had  taken  place,  the  old  chief 
would  scarcely  allow  the  boy  to  leave  his  sight,  such  was 
his  attachment  to  him,  and  manifested  his  delight  in 
every  possible  way  over  his  recovery.  The  white  captives 
were  two  sisters  by  the  name  of  Thompson,  who  lived 


39 

south  of  the  Platte  River,  nearly  opposite  Grand  Island, 
and  their  twin  brothers  ;  a  Norwegian  girl,  taken  on  the 
Little  Blue  River,  and  a  white  child  born  to  one  of  these 
women  while  in  captivity.  They  were  restored  to  their 
friends  as  soon  as  possible. 

THE  NEXT  ATTACK. — The  Indians  were  not  willing  to 
have  the  iron  rails  that  should  bind  the  shores  of  the  con 
tinent  together  laid  in  peace,  and  made  strenuous  and 
persistent  efforts  to  prevent  it.  On  the  16th  of  April, 
1868,  a  "  cut  off"  band  of  Sioux,  under  a  scalawag  chief, 
named  "Two  Strikes,"  attacked  and  killed  five  section- 
men  near  Elm  Creek  station,  taking  their  scalps,  and  ran 
off  a  few  heard  of  stock.  They  were  never  pursued.  On 
the  same  day,  and  evidently  according  to  a  pre-arranged 
plan,  a  part  of  the  same  band  attacked  the  post  at  Sid 
ney.  They  came  up  on  the  bluffs  north  of  the  town,  and 
fired  into  it.  But  no  one  was  injured  from  their  shooting 
at  that  time.  Two  conductors,  however,  named  Tom 
Cahoon  and  William  Edmunson,  had  gone  down  to  the 
Lodge  Pole  Creek,  a  little  way,  to  fish.  They  were  un 
observed  by  the  Indians  when  the  firing  took  place- 
Hearing  the  reports  they  climed  up  the  bank  to  see  what 
was  going  on,  and  being  seen  by  the  Indians,  they  at 
once  made  an  effort  to  cut  them  off,  though  they  were 
only  a  mile  or  so  from  the  post.  The  savages  charged 
down  upon  them  and  shot  Cahoon,  who  fell  forward  on 
the  ground.  The  Indians  immediately  scalped  him  and 
left  him  for  dead.  Mr.  Edmunson  ran  towards  the  post 
as  fast  as  he  could,  and  drawing  a  small  Derringer  pistol 
fired  at  his  pursuers.  Thinking  he  had  a  revolver,  and 
would  be  likely  to  shoot  again  if  they  came  too  close, 
they  did  not  venture  up  as  they  had  done,  but  allowed 
him  to  escape.  He  got  away  with  some  eight  or  nine 
arrow  and  bullet  wounds  together,  and  carrying  four 
arrows  sticking  in  his  body.  He  was  taken  to  the 
hospital,  and  rapidly  recovered  from  his  wounds.  After 
the  Indians  had  gone,  the  citizens  went  after  the  body  of 
Mr.  Cahoon,  whom  they  supposed  dead,  but  to  their  sur- 


40 

prise  lie  was  still  alive.    They  brought  him  into  the  post, 
\vli<Te  he  recovered,  and  is  now  running  on  the  road. 

ATTACK  AT  OGALALLA. — In  September  of  the  same 
y«'ar  the  same  band  of  Sioux  attempted  to  destroy  a  train 
between  Alkali  and  Ogalalla.  They  fixed  the  rails  the 
same  as  at  Plum  Creek.  As  the  train  came  up  the  rails 
penetrated  the  cylinders  on  each  side  of  the  engine,  as  it 
was  a  straight  track  there,  the  engine  going  over  into  the 
ditch,  with  the  cars  piling  on  top  of  it.  The  engineer 
and  one  of  the  brakemen,  who  was  on  the  engine  at  the 
time,  were  thrown  through  the  window  of  the  cab,  and 
were  but  little  hurt.  The  fireman  was  fastened  by  the 
tender  against  the  end  of  the  boiler,  and  after  the  train 
had  stopped,  there  being  no  draft,  the  flames  of  the  fire 
came  out  of  the  door  to  the  fire-box  upon  him,  and  the 
poor  fellow  was  literally  roasted  alive.  He  was  released 
after  six  hours  in  this  terrible  position,  during  which  he 
begged  the  attendants  to  kill  him,  but  lived  only  a  few 
moments  after  his  release.  All  the  trains  at  this  time 
carried  arms,  and  the  conductor,  with  two  or  three  pas 
sengers,  among  whom  was  Father  Ryan  a  Catholic  priest 
of  Columbus,  Nebraska,  seized  the  arms  and  defended 
the  train,  the  Indians  meanwhile  skulking  among  the 
bluffs  near  the  track,  and  occasionally  firing  a  shot. 
Word  was  sent  to  North  Platte,  and  an  engine  and  men 
came  up,  who  cleared  the  wreck.  Meanwhile  word  was 
sent  to  Major  North,  then  at  Willow  Island,  to  take  one 
company  of  his  scouts  and  follow  the  Indians.  He  came 
to  Alkali  and  reported  to  Colonel  Mizner,  who  was 
marching  from  North  Platte  with  two  companies  of  cav 
alry,  all  of  whom  started  in  pursuit. 

They  went  over  to  the  North  Platte  River,  crossed  that 
stream,  and  entered  the  sand-hills,  where  the  scouts  over 
took  and  killed  two  of  the  Indians  ;  the  whole  party  go 
ing  about  thirty-five  miles,  to  a  little  lake,  where  the 
main  body  of  the  Indians  had  just  left,  and  camped,  find 
ing  the  smouldering  embers  of  the  Indian  fires  still  alive. 

That  night  some  of  the  white  soldiers  let  their  camp 


41 

fires  get  away  into  the  prairie,  and  an  immense  prairie 
fire  was  the  result.  This,  of  course,  alarmed  the  Indians, 
and  further  pursuit  was  abandoned,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  the  scouts.  Colonel  Mizner  also  claimed  that  his  ra 
tions  were  running  short ;  but  from  all  the  facts  we  can 
learn,  he  lacked  the  disposition  to  pursue  and  capture 
those  Indians.  At  least  this  is  a  charitable  construction 
to  put  upon  his  acts. 

The  Indians  have  made  some  efforts  to  ditch  a  few 
trains  since  that  year,  but  have  effected  no  serious  damage. 
Their  efforts  of  late  have  mostly  been  confined  to  stock 
stealing,  and  they  are  never  so  happy  as  when  they  have 
succeeded  in  running  off  a  large  number  of  horses  and 
mules.  When  the  road  was  first  built  it  was  their  habit 
to  cross  it  going  south  and  north  several  times  in  each 
year.  They  roamed  with  the  buffaloes  over  the  plains  of 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  Kansas.  The  effort 
of  the  Government  of  late  has  been  to  confine  them  on 
their  own  reservations,  and  the  rapid  disappearance  of 
the  buffaloes  from  the  regions  named  have  given  them  no 
excuse  for  hunting  in  the  country  now  crossed  by  rail 
roads  and  filling  up  with  settlers. 

Indians  pray  as  well  as  other  people.  I  will  repeat  a 
prayer  by  the  Indian  to  the  Great  Spirit : 

"  I  am  a  poor  Indian  that  is  bad.  Make  me  a  chief  ; 
"  give  me  plenty  of  horses  ;  give  me  fine  clothing.  I  ask 
u  for  §ood  spotted  horses  ;  give  me  a  large  tent ;  give  me 
"  a  great  many  horses  ;  let  me  steal  fine  horses  ;  grant  it 
"  to  me.  Give  me  guns  by  cheating.  Give  me  a  beauti- 
"  ful  woman.  Bring  the  buffalo  close  by.  No  deep 
"  snow  ;  a  little  snow  is  good.  Give  me  Black  Feet  to 
*'•  kill — close  by,  all  together.  Stop  the  people  from 
"  dying  ;  it  is  good.  Give  instruments  for  amusement ; 
"  blankets  too,  and  fine  meats  to  eat.  Give  the  people 
"  altogether  plenty  of  fine  buffalo  and  plenty  to  eat," 

We  have  been  running  for  many  hours  through  a 
country  where  "  stock-raising"  is  the  principal  business 
done ;  where  cattle  and  horses  can  grow  and  are  kept 


42 

the  year  round'  without  being  housed,  but  live  their  lives 
on  the  prairies,  eating  prairie  grass,  which  is  a  rich  nutri 
ment  that  produces  fat  and  renders  cattle  ready  for  the 
market  without  feeding  them  grain. 

Over  these  plains  also  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis  had  his 
first  buffalo  hunt.  This  hunt  was  gotten  up  by  some  of 
the  Indians  stopping  in  this  valley,  and  who,  at  a  few 
moments'  warning,  are  always  ready  to  gamble,  to  drink, 
or  to  have  a  war-dance  or  a  light  on  the  plains.  These 
beautiful  "Los"  (Indians,  by  a  better  name)  went  in 
company  with  the  Grand  Duke  and  Buffalo  Bill,  the 
hunter  and  actor,  Generals  Sheridan  and  Ouster  (since 
deceased  :  killed  in  a  fight  with  these  same  Indians). 
These  red  devils  appeared  in  a  pow-wow  and  a  war-dance 
to  astonish  the  Grand  Duke  before  they  started  on  the 
hunt.  Not  long  after,  they  spied  a  buffalo,  and  went 
for  him,  the  Grand  Duke  ahead,  who  had  a  very  fleet 
horse,  and  soon  caught  up  with  the  buffalo,  the  monster 
of  the  plains,  and  coming  in  proper  range  he  fired  his 
big  pistol  and  shot  the  buffalo  dead  at  his  feet.  The 
next  thing  for  the  Grand  Duke  to  do  was  to  canter  off  to 
a  telegraph  station  and  telegraph  home  to  his  father,  the 
Czar  of  all  the  Russias,  that  he  had  killed  the  first  wild, 
horned  monster  that  had  met  his  eye  in  America.  This 
sport  continued  for  two  days,  and  ended  in  a  series  of 
Indian  festivities. 

We  now  come  to  North  Platte,  another  division  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Kailroad,  and  291  miles  from  Omaha. 
This  town  has  abundant  attractions  for  the  invalid  need 
ing  rest,  with  antelope  and  deer  in  the  mountains,  fish  in 
the  streams  and  an  abundance  of  pure  air  to  invigorate 
the  body. 

Near-by  here  is  a  singular  structure  of  rock,  called  the 
Chimney  Rock.  Some  years  ago  it  was  over  500  feet 
high  and  situated  in  the  plains,  with  no  other  rock  near 
it.  It  could  be  seen  for  many  miles  around.  In  fact,  it 
was  the  guiding-mark  for  weary  travelers  on  their  trip 
out  West.  But  the  elements  are  reducing  its  size  and 


43 

height,  until  now  it  is  not  nearly  as  large  or  high  as  it 
was  some  years  ago. 

All  along  here  can  be  seen  evidences  of  old  battles 
fought  with  the  Indians. 

We  now  come  to  where  prairie  dogs  can  be  seen  from 
the  car  windows  as  we  pass  along.  Ladies  clap  their 
hands,  and  children  shout  with  glee,  at  sight  of  these 
funny  little  creatures.  It  is  a  curious  little  animal 
in  shape,  always  fat,  gray  in  color,  about  16  inches  in 
length,  and  always  lives  with  a  multitude  of  its  com- 
panions  in  villages.  It  has  a  short,  yelping  bark,  which 
it  is  very  fond  of  uttering,  and  it  is  something  like  the 
bark  of  a  puppy.  In  the  same  hole  with  the  prairie  dog 
is  found  the  gray  owl,  and  often  you  will  see  the  owl  on 
one  side  of  the  hole  and  the  prairie  dog  on  the  other. 
The  rattlesnake  is  often  found  there,  too.  Truly  a  happy 
family  :  the  owl,  the  prairie  dog  and  the  rattlesnake. 
The  question  was  asked  me,  How  do  the  prairie  dogs  get 
water  to  drink  i  On  inquiring,  I  find  they  dig  their  own 
wells,  each  village  of  dogs  having  one  well,  with  a  con 
cealed  opening.  It  matters  not  how  far  down  the  water 
may  be,  the  dogs  will  keep  digging  until  they  reach  it. 
A  well  of  over  200  feet  deep  has  been  found,  and  there 
is  a  circular  stairway  leading  down  to  the  water.  Every 
time  a  prairie  dog  wants  a  drink  he  descends  this  stair 
case,  which,  considering  the  great  distance,  is  no  mean 
task. 

In  our  travels,  we  come  across  the  bull  whacker  again. 
Some  time  ago  I  gave  a  partial  description  of  this  indi 
vidual,  but  will  once  more  trespass  upon  his  premises, 
and,  with  your  permission,  will  proceed.  He  is  a  very 
large  man,  very  strong,  with  long,  unkempt  hair  and  the 
stiffest  of  beards.  Eight  or  ten  yoke  of  oxen  are  usually 
attached  to  a  wagon,  by  the  side  of  which  hangs  the 
trusty  rifle  or  ax.  Of  the  bullwhacker,  it  is  said  that 
his  oath  and  his  whip  are  both  the  longest  ever  known. 
The  handle  of  his  whip  is  not  over  three  feet  long  ;  the 
lash,  however,  is  seldom  less  than  twenty  feet,  from  the 


44 

stock  to  the  tip.  This  tip  is  called  the  persuader,  and 
under  its  influence  the  ox  team  will  progress  at  the  rate 
of  twenty  miles  a  day.  The  effect  on  a  lazy  ox  is  won- 
ful,  and  when  he  feels  the  lash  on  his  flank,  it  will  cause 
him  to  double  up,  as  if  seared  with  a  red-hot  iron.  The 
bullwhacker  is  considered  the  champion  swearer  of 
America,  and  can  drink  more  whisky  than  any  other 
kind  of  man.  He  is  astonishingly  accurate  in  his  aim 
with  the  lash.  One  of  his  favorite  pastimes  is  to  cut  with 
his  lash  a  coin  from  the  top  of  a  stick  stuck  in  the  ground. 

A  Bullwhacker  bet  with  a  comrade  that  he  could  cut 
out  of  his  pantaloons,  on  the  back  side,  a  piece  of  the 
size  of  a  sixpence  ;  the  stake  was  a  pint  of  whiskey  ; 
the  Bullwhacker  lost  if  he  cut  the  skin.  The  comrade 
stooped  over  so  as  to  give  the  Bullwhacker  a  good  chance, 
the  blow  was  given  carefully,  but  in  earnest,  when  the 
tallest  jump  ever  put  on  record  was  made  ;  the  comrade 
was  minus  a  portion  of  his  skin,  as  well  as  a  large  frag 
ment  of  his  breeches,  and  the  Bullwhacker  called  out 
"  thunder  and  lightning,  I've  lost  the  whiskey." 

We  next  come  to  a  town  by  the  name  of  Sidney,  414 
miles  from  Omaha,  and  here  we  get  a  good  supper  ;  the 
house  is  kept  by  J.  B.  Rumsey,  and  a  good  meal  is  sure 
to  be  had. 

There  is  a  charm  in  life  on  the  great  prairies,  to  one 
who  is  going  over  them  for  the  first  time,  it  seems  lonely 
indeed,  and  yet  it  is  never  wearisome  ;  now  comes  great 
rolling  uplands  of  enormous  sweep,  sometimes  the  grand 
distances  are  broken  by  rugged  butts  and  bluffs  ;  as  they 
arise  in  sight  the  traveler  is  as  eager  in  his  curiosity  as 
the  sea  voyager  is  to  catch  the  first  sight  of  distant 
shore. 

The  plains  are  covered  most  of  the  time  with  natural 
flowers  ;  the  sun  flower  is  most  preferred,  and  can  be 
seen  for  many  miles.  Wherever  the  Railroad  or  wagon 
route  has  made  its  way  across  the  country  there  springs 
up  the  ever  living  sun  flower.  The  plains  are  also  covered 
with  tufts  of  shrubbery,  called  sage  brush,  they  are  from 


45 

six  inches  to  three  feet  high,  and  there  is  another  variety 
called  u  greasewood,"  about  the  same  kind  of  wood  as 
the  sage  brush. 

Agriculture  is  certain  as  far  West  as  300  miles  from  the 
Mississippi  River,  beyond  that  to  the  mountains  no  crops 
can  be  seen. 

We  are  now  at  Cheyenne,  516  miles  from  Omaha. 
This  is  a  city,  so  called,  and  where  many  trains  are  made 
up  for  the  Black  Hills. 

Here  is  seen  for  the  first  time  the  Chinaman  waiter,  and 
the  beautiful  "  Lo"  and  the  Chinaman  are  in  close  prox 
imity  to  each  other  here  ;  we  are  now  over  6000  feet  high, 
and  the  Chinese  are  shoveling  snow  off  the  track  for  us 
to  pass  through,  and  we  are  passing  through  snow  sheds 
again.  Cheyenne  is  the  capitol  of  Wyoming  Territory, 
and  the  county  seat  of  Lorine  County  ;  population  some 
6000  people.  This  is  the  place  once  known  as  hell  on 
wheels  ;  churches  have  come  where  godless  people  once 
reigned.  Judge  Lynch  once  reigned  here,  and  many  a 
gambler  and  bad  man  have  been  hung  to  the  convenient 
lamp  post  ;  in  fact  the  city  authorities  had  their  lamp 
posts  so  arranged  that  a  bad  man  could  be  strung  up  in 
a  jiffy  ;  and  at  one  time  Judge  Lynch  was  so  strict  that 
it  was  to  be  expected  every  morning  to  see  one  or  more 
of  these  gamblers  and  roughs  hung  up  at  any  convenient 
spot,  but  that  kind  of  business  was  not  suited  to  these 
bad  men,  and  they  left  for  other  parts  more  in  accordance 
with  their  sense  of  right  and  justice. 

One  word  about  the  Black  Hills.  It  is  well  known 
that  this  country  belongs  to  the  Indians  by  reserva 
tion,  but  I  think  the  whites  have  the  best  of  it  now, 
and  will  keep  it,  provided  the  Government  does  not 
interfere  and  drive  out  the  white  man.  The  Indian 
is  a  dirty,  nasty  sneak,  and  a  coward,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  he  should  have  the  best  of  our  coun_ 
try  and  be  fed  by  our  Government  in  addition,  and 
I  say,  if  the  white  man  wants  the  Black  Hills,  let  him 
have  them.  The  Indian  never  works  on  any  of  the  reser- 


46 

vation  lands  given  him  ;  liis  idea  of  living  is  to  do  nothing, 
but  creep  around  where  the  white  man  lives,  and  steal 
from  him  enough  to  keep  the  breath  of  life  in  him  ;  then 
go  for  the  white  man's  scalp.  Oh,  it  makes  me  shudder 
when  I  think  of  the  bad  deeds  of  that  beautiful  "  Lo !" 
Painted  from  head  to  foot,  as  I  have  seen  them  so  many 
times,  with  a  belt  buckled  around  their  waist,  strung  full 
with  weapons  of  warfare,  the  pistol,  the  tomahawk,  the 
scalping-knife,  and  the  sharp-shooter,  and  many  of  them 
with  their  bow  and  arrows  strutting  up  and  down  the 
railroad  platforms,  showing  themselves  to  the  white  man, 
and  going  through  with  their  guttural  jargon  that  no  white 
man  can  understand  ;  arid  when  the  train  starts  off  many 
of  them  jump  on,  strutting  through  the  cars  ;  and  they 
never  pay  a  cent  for  their  rides.  They  are  free  to  ride 
just  when  and  where  they  please,  and  no  conductor  dare 
say  a  word  to  them ;  while  if  a  poor  white  man  should 
attempt  to  ride  without  paying  he  would  be  put  off  very 
quick.  You  ask  why  are  these  devils  allowed  such  priv 
ileges  ?  The  answrer  is  simple  :  The  railroad  officers  are 
afraid  of  them,  and  will  do  anything  to  appease  the  fan 
cied  wrongs  of  the  Indian.  In  other  words,  these  red 
skins  are  the  masters  of  the  situation,  and  will  remain  so 
until  every  redskin  is  sent  to  his  happy  hunting  ground. 
Yes,  killed  I  say,  for  they  are  hated  by  all  men,  and  the 
sooner  they  are  put  out  of  sight  as  a  class  the  better  it 
will  be  with  the  white  man,  but  excuse  me  for  expressing 
my  views  so  plainly  on  this  subject. 

Mountains  are  seen  by  this  time,  and  they  look  plea 
sant,  especially  as  we  have  been  passing  so  long  a  time 
over  a  level  country.  The  first  one  of  much  account  is 
Hovney'  s  Peak,  7,440  feet  high.  The  Devil' s  Tower  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  Peaks  of  the  world — an  immense 
granite,  867  feet  at  its  base,  and  297  feet  at  the  top,  and 
1,200  feet  in  height.  Its  summit  is  inaccessible  to  any 
thing  without  wings.  The  Indian  calls  this  shaft  the 
Bad  God's  place,  from  the  fact  that  during  thunder 
storms  the  lightning  plays  around  the  top  very  beauti- 


47 

fully,  which  always  frightens  him,  and  he  thinks  that 
the  Bad  Spirit  is  angry  with  him,  and  that  the  Bad  Spi 
rit  lives  on  the  top  of  this  peak. 

We  next  come  to  Colorado,  an  empire  of  itself  in  en 
terprise,  science,  beauty,  and  the  abundance  of  its  plea  _ 
sure  resorts.  I  could  write  much  about  this  beautiful 
place,  but  time  will  not  permit,  for  I  have  much  to  tell 
you  of  places  further  on,  and  just  as  interesting.  We 
now  come  to  a  place  called  Horace  G-reeley.  This  town 
was  settled  in  May,  1870,  by  a  small  colony  from  the 
East.  They  purchased  a  tract  of  100,000  acres  of  fine 
land  in  the  valley  of  Lapowder  River,  the  largest  stream 
flowing  eastward  from  the  mountains  of  Colorado,  and, 
curious  to  mention,  this  is  a  temperance  town.  No  in 
toxicating  drinks  are  sold  here  ;  but  this  is  of  little  con 
sequence  to  those  who  will  have  it  at  any  price,  for  the 
fire-water,  as  it  is  called  out  here,  can  be  bought  at  the 
next  town  only  six  miles  away  ;  but  not  selling  it  at  all, 
has  kept  a  class  of  loafers  and  idlers  off  who  otherwise 
would  have  been  a  curse  to  any  community. 

We  next  come  to  a  mountain,  called  the  Mountain  of 
the  "  Holy  Cross,"  and,  being  the  only  one  of  the  kind 
in  the  world,  its  fame  is  wide-spread. 

Its  height  is  14,176  feet,  and  near  the  topis  across 
made  of  two  crevices  running  at  right  angles,  and 
which  are  always  filled  with  snow  ;  and  the  perpendicu 
lar  arm  of  the  cross  is  1,500  feet  long,  while  the  horizontal 
arm  of  the  cross  is  700  feet  long,  and  this  cross  can  be 
seen  for  over  100  miles,  the  rocks  on  either  side  of  the 
crevices  forming  it  being  of  a  very  dark  granite. 

The  next  station  is  "  Sherman,"  549  miles  from  Omaha, 
and  is  noted  for  being  the  highest  point  on  the  railroad. 
We  are  now  8,242  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The 
railroad  here,  at  the  time  it  was  built,  was  higher  than  any 
other  railroad  in  the  world.  The  approach  to  this  terrible 
elevation  is  so  gradual  that  we  hardly  notice  the  ascent. 
It  takes  two  powerful  engines  to  pull  up  our  long  train  ; 
and  here  we  are — such  a  sight  ! — on  the  highest  point  on 


48 

the  continent  of  America.  The  air  is  so  pure  and  light 
that  a  person  feels,  as  if  they  had  wings,  they  would  go 
up  higher.  I  got  out  of  the  cars  and  stepped  on  some 
rocks — procured  a  few  specimens  from  a  noted  rock. 

Near  here  are  the  graves  of  some  men  murdered  by 
that  beautiful  animal  called  the  Indian  ;  and  these  men 
are  sleeping  so  near  heaven. 

A  solitary  pine  tree  is  keeping  sentinel  over  their 
graves.  We  have  ascended  in  the  last  32  miles  over  2,200 
feet,  and  now  we  begin  to  descend  the  other  side  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  it  takes  two  engines  to  control 
the  train,  for,  if  one  engine  should  fail  to  keep  up  steam, 
as  it  often  happens  on  these  long  routes,  the  other  is 
ready  to  do  the  work. 

We  now  come  to  an  iron-trussed  bridge,  called  the 
Dale  Creek  Bridge — and  it  is  one  of  the  sights  out 
West — it  is  130  feet  high  and  many  feet  long,  and  it  is 
well  worth  a  trip  across  the  Continent  to  see  this  bridge. 
We  now  strike  the  great  Laramer  plains  ;  they  average 
40  miles  wide  and  100  miles  long.  They  begin  at  the 
base  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  extend  to  the  Medicine  Bow 
mountains.  They  comprise  an  area  of  over  2J  million 
acres  of  the  richest  kind  of  grazing  land,  and  many  kind 
of  cattle,  sheep  and  horses,  are  seen  feeding  on  them  as 
we  pass  along. 

The  next  object  of  interest  is  a  Rock,  called  the  Red 
Buttes,  so  called  from  the  reddish  color  of  the  rocks. 
These  rocks  are  of  all  kinds  and  shapes,  many  of  them 
standing  entirely  alone,  and  then  they  are  found  in 
groups.  The  soil  is  of  a  reddish  color  also,  and  the  geo- 
lists  say  it  all  indicates  the  presence  of  iron. 

These  Laramer  plains  have  been  called  the  paradise  of 
sheep,  and  there  are  men  here  who  own  over  16,000  head, 
and  these  sheep  are  divided  into  droves  of  about  2,500 
each.  A  man  with  a  good  pony  and  a  shepherd  dog  can 
take  care  of  a  drove  of  that  size  without  much  trouble. 

We  have  passed  through  to-day  14  long  snow  sheds, 
built  in  the  rocky  gorges  of  the  rocky  mountains. 


49 

This  day,  (April  13th),  we  are  passing  through  a  spur 
of  the  mountains,  a  grand  sight  indeed,  and  when  I  say 
a  grand  sight,  I  wish  I  could  use  the  English  language 
in  such  a  way  that  you  could  just  understand  what  I 
mean. 

Right  alongside  of  the  track  are  mountains  so  high 
that  you  have  almost  to  break  your  neck  in  bending 
back  in  .  order  to  look  at  their  top,  and  such  curious 
shaped  rocks,  many  of  them  resembling  castles  that  I 
have  read  of  in  story  books,  and  of  every  conceivable 
shape  and  form. 

We  now  come  to  a  country  where  nothing  grows  much  ; 
no  grass,  no  trees,  nothing  but  little  tufts  of  Sage  Brush, 
on  the  alkali  plains  and  mountains.  During  the  day  we 
passed  a  number  of  coal  shafts.  Coal  is  being  mined 
here  in  large  quantities.  At  Laramie  we  got  our  break 
fast,  and  a  good  one  it  was,  at  least  we  thought  so  ;  and 
such  appetites  we  had  coming  over  the  mountains  and 
plains  ;  and  they  have  a  Soda  mine  at  this  place,  and,  in 
a  little  while,  if  properly  developed,  they  can  dig  enough 
out  of  the  ground  to  supply  the  whole  world.  In  the 
neighborhood  is  a  high  rock,  called  the  ' '  Laramie  Peak," 
the  highest  peak  of  the  Black  Hill  range  of  mountains, 
and  is  10,000  feet  high. 

Windmills  are  found  in  every  hamlet  and  city.  Deep 
wells  are  sunk  in  the  plains,  and  the  windmill  pumps  up 
the  water  for  use.  At  every  railroad  station  the  windmill 
is  seen ;  probably  no  finer  ones  can  be  seen  anywhere  than 
on  this  railroad,  and  I  will  give  you  a  description  of  a  rail 
road  windmill.  They  are  75  feet  high,  the  base  25  feet 
across ;  the  tank  for  holding  water  is  37  feet  high  ;  the 
arms  of  the  windmill  are  25  feet  long,  and  the  fan  of  the 
mill  is  25  feet  across.  In  the  tank  is  a  globe  or  ball 
floating  in  the  water,  and  is  so  connected  with  levers  that 
when  the  water  has  reached  a  certain  height,  the  slats  or 
fan  are  thrown  in  line  with  the  wind,  and  the  machine 
stops.  As  the  water  is  drawn  off  the  slats  or  fan  are 
spread  again,  and  the  machine,  operated  upon  by  the 


50 

wind,  is  again  set  in  motion,  and  the  pumping  continues. 
Thus  you  see  the  whole  thing  is  self -regulating  and  self- 
acting.  The  cost  of  mills  of  this  pattern  is  $10,000. 

Let  me  tell  you  how  the  noble  red  men  bury  their 
dead.  The  Comanches,  Apaches,  Cheyennes,  Arapahoes 
and  Kiowas,  all  bury  their  dead  in  some  big  tree.  The 
manner  of  doing  it  is  as  follows  :  the  corpse  is  securely 
wrapped  up  like  a  mummy.  With  it  are  placed  food, 
arms,  tobacco,  etc.,  with  which  its  spirit  wants  to  go  to  the 
happy  hunting  grounds.  Their  feet  are  always  turned 
towards  the  South.  The  whole  pile  is  covered  over  with 
an  outer  covering  made  of  willows,  then  the  body  is 
placed  upon  a  platform,  put  in  some  large  tree  close  at 
hand. 

We  now  come  to  Black  Buttes,  and  'here  the  Railroad 
passes  through  deep  canons  (or  ravines)  ;  sometimes  it 
seems,  as  you  pass  down  the  valley  and  look  ahead,  as 
though  the  train  was  going  square  against  the  rocks  and 
would  be  dashed  in  pieces,  but,  a  sudden  curve,  and  you 
have  rounded  the  projecting  cliff  and  bluffs,  and  are 
safely  passing  on  your  journey  ;  again  it  seems  as  if  the 
cliff  and  bluffs  were  trying  to  shake  hands  across  the 
chasm  or  making  an  effort  to  become  dovetailed  toge 
ther.  They  assume  all  kinds  of  shapes  and  forms, 
washed  out  in  places  by  the  storms  of  ages,  smoothly 
carved  as  if  by  the  hand  of  the  sculptor,  and  again  rug 
ged  and  grotesque. 

We  next  come  to  the  Black  Buttes,  795  miles  from 
Omaha,  and  6,600  feet  high.  And  we  are  now  at  Green 
River,  where  we  get  another  good  meal,  and  the  land 
lord  keeps  a  sort  of  a  museum  that  he  has  in  cases 
in  his  ante-room—moss  agates,  fossil  fish,  petrified  shells 
and  petrified  wood,  and  many  others  I  have  forgotten.  I 
have  with  me  three  specimens  of  fossil  fish  in  stone  ;  they 
are  well  worth  studying.  Many  questions  can  be  asked  : 
How  came  these  fish  in  stone  so  far  up  the  mountain 
side  \  is  the  first  question.  As  I  am  not  able  to  answer 
that,  I  will  stop  asking  any  more. 


51 

On  Green  River  are  many  curiosities  to  look  at— a  high, 
projecting  tower  north  of  the  track,  a  rock  running  up 
625  feet  like  a  shaft— a  perpendicular  rock  at  that— other 
rocks  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Twin  Sisters  will  be 
easily  recognized  by  the  traveler  as  he  passes  along. 

Wake  up  !  Wake  up  !  exclaimed  an  old  lady  to  her 
sleeping  husband,  as  they  were  passing  this  place,  look 
out  and  behold  Solomon's  Temple  petrified.  The  sleepy 
old  man  looked  out  and  beheld  what  every  traveler  ex 
pects  to  see  as  they  pass  this  wonderful  collection  of 
rocks.  One  is  called  the  Giant's  Rock,  and  is  a  giant  in 
size,  many  feet  high,  and  valuable  for  the  many  forma 
tions  of  curious  plants  and  fishes  contained  in  it.  At  the 
top,  or  near  the  top,  are  found  formations  of  plants, 
while  near  the  base,  say  100  feet  further  down,  you  will 
find  the  remains  of  fishes,  all  belonging  to  the  fresh 
water  kind,  and  all  of  them  extinct. 

With  the  fishes  are  found  specimens  of  birds'  feathers 
and  a  few  reeds.  Another  rock,  near  by,  is  called  the 
Giant's  Tea  Kettle,  and  a  very  nice  natural  shape  it  is 
too,  with  the  spout  of  the  kettle  sticking  out. 

We  next  come  to  Rock  Springs,  where  a  great  number 
of  Chinamen  are  living.  From  this  out  we  shall  come 
across  this  kind  of  help  at  all  the  hotels,  and  doing  the 
work  that  our  servants  are  doing  at  home.  They  are  a 
curious  kind  of  people,  and  must  be  studied  to  be  under 
stood.  They  are  renowned  for  their  industry  and  econo 
my  ;  they  will  comfortably  live  upon  what  our  people 
throw  away. 

We  now  come  to  "Echo  Canon,"  with  full  breath, 
anxious  heart  and  keen  zest.  We  scan  the  scenes  from 
the  car  window  or  platform,  and  prepare  for  one  grand? 
rushing  descent,  into  the  glorious  Echo  Canon.  I  will 
never  forget  the  feeling  of  wonder  and  awe  we  expe 
rienced  while  riding  through  this  wonderful  Canon.— 
Scenes,  beside  which  all  those  of  the  East  are  pigmies  in 
comparison,  astoundingiy  abrupt  and  massive  ;  and  the 
little  company  of  spectators  seemed  but  an  insignificant 


52 

portion  of  the  handiwork  of  the  Almighty.  The  train 
which  we  were  on  seemed  only  as  baby  carriages,  and 
the  shriek  of  the  whistle,  as  it  echoed  and  resounded 
from  rock  to  rock,  appeared  to  me  like  entering  the 
portals  of  the  palace  of  some  terrible  being.  But,  Bro 
thers,  the  thoughts  of  the  things  seen  in  the  space  of  less 
than  three  hours,  even  now,  overpowers  me. 

You  must  remember,  however,  that  the  scenes  wit 
nessed  from  the  railroad  are  but  a  very  little  portion  of 
the  whole.  To  gather  true,  refreshing  glimpses  of  West 
ern  scenery,  the  tourist  must  get  away  from  the  railroad 
into  the  little  valleys,  ascend  the  bluffs  and  mountains, 
and  views,  yet  more  glorious,  will  greet  the  eye.  Echo 
Canon  is  the  most  impressive  scene  that  is  beheld  for 
over  1,500  miles  on  the  overland  railroad.  The  constant 
succession  of  rocks — each  growing  more  and  more  huge, 
and  more  and  more  perpendicular  and  colossal  in  form- 
make  the  attractions  of  the  valley  grow  upon  the  eye,  in 
stead  of  decrease. 

We  enter  the  canon  about  on  a  level  with  the  top  of 
the  rocks,  and  in  our  case  overlook  them,  then  gradually 
descend,  until  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  valley  the  track 
is  so  close  to  the  foot  of  the  rocks  that  we  have  to  elevate 
our  heads  with  an  upward  look,  not  less  than  90°.  to 
scale  their  summits.  Let  us  now  prepare  to  descend, 
and  brace  ourselves  eagerly  for  the  exhilaration  of  the 
ride,  the  scenery  of  which  will  live  with  us  in  memory 
for  years  to  come — and,  as  we  pass  down  this  deep  gorge, 
you  will  want  to  look  with  all  the  eyes  you  have,  and 
look  quick  too,  as  one  object  passes  quickly  out  of  sight 
as  another  comes  into  view. 

We  come  at  last  to  Castle  Rock  Station,  right  in  the 
Echo  Canon  ;  and  it  is  called  from  a  rock  very  near, 
looking  very  much  like  a  castle.  Notice  the  arch  door 
way  on  one  corner  of  the  old  castle,  with  red -colored 
side  pieces,  capped  with  grey.  Near  by  are  some  nesdle 
rocks,  sharp-pointed,  one  small  one  especially  prominent. 
Opposite  the  water  tanks  are  rocks,  worn  in  curious 


53 

shapes.  Next  come  the  rock  called  the  Swallow' s  Nest, 
so  called  from  the  great  number  of  holes  near  the  top, 
chiselled  out  by  the  action  of  water  and  wind,  and  in 
summer  a  large  number  of  swallows  make  this  place  their 
home. 

Then  comes  a  honeycombed  peak,  with  a  shelving  gray 
rock  under  it  ;  then  comes  a  singular  perpendicular  col 
umn,  jutting  out  in  front  of  the  ledge  with  outstretched 
wings, as  if  it  would  lift  itself  up  and  fly, but  for  its  weight; 
and  this  is  called  Eagle  Rock.  If  there  was  a  projection 
in  front  to  resemble  the  neck  and  head,  the  rock  would 
appear  very  much  like  an  eagle,  with  pinions  extended 
just  ready  to  fly.  Then  comes  the  Hanging  Rocks,  then 
the — but  I  cannot  tell  you  any  more  about  these  rocks, 
for  the  subject  is  too  great  to  attempt  to  make  it  any 
plainer.  But  we  now  come  to  some  rocks  and  stones  piled 
up  by  Brigham  Young  in  1857  to  roll  down  on  General 
Albert  Sidney  Johnson's  army,  when  it  should  pass  here 
for  Salt  Lake  City.  The  canon  verily  becomes  a  gorge 
here,  and  the  wagon-road  runs  close  to  the  base  of  the 
high  bluffs,  which  the  Mormons  fortified  after  a  fashion. 
High  up  you  see  these  piles  of  stones.  They  look  very 
small, but  nevertheless  they  are  there  for  the  very  pur 
pose  just  mentioned.  At  the  time  spoken  of  there  was 
trouble  with  the  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake  City,  which  is 
but  a  short  distance  from  here,  and  troops  were  sent  to 
quell  the  disturbance  ;  and  Brigham  Young  knowing 
that  the  troops  would  have  to  pass  through  this  gorge, 
sent  men  there  to  stop  them  by  hurling  upon  them  the 
stones  from  this  lofty  place.  The  question  is  asked,  did 
they  roll  down  these  stones?  They  did  not,  because  it 
was  late  in  the  season,  and  before  the*  army  came  to  this 
place  it  went  into  winter  quarters  this  side,  and  when 
Spring  came,  the  disturbance  was  settled  and  the  army 
was  called  back,  but  the  stones  are  there  yet  for  any  one 
to  examine  for  himself.  We  next  come  to  a  rock  project 
ing  out,  called  the  Steamboat  Rock,  very  much  resem 
bling  that  vessel,  and  the  stone  is  of  a  reddish  cast — a  lit- 


54 

tie  cedar,  like  a  flag  of  perpetual  green,  shows  its  head 
on  the  bow.  Further  on  is  another  rock,  projecting  out, 
very  plain,  and  resembles  the  vessel  called  the  "Great 
Republic  ;"  they  are  really  curious  formations.  And 
still  another  rock— nearly  resembles  the  Great  Eastern— 
and  all  these  rocks  are  really  very  curious  shaped,  and 
wonderful  to  those  who  see  them  for  the  first  time. 

Sentinel  Rock  comes  next,  and  it  is  within  a  cove,  and 
seems  withdrawn  from  the  rest  in  front,  and  many  more 
curious  rocks  can  be  seen  if  the  train  would  only  stop 
and  give  us  a  chance  to  examine  these  wonderful  struc 
tures  ;  but  as  it  will  not,  the  next  thing  is  to  get  as  good 
a  look  as  possible. 

And  now  we  pass  into  u  Weber  Canon,"  which  almost 
equals  its  sister  the  Echo  Canon. 

The  first  rock  of  prominence  is  the  Pulpit  Rock,  stand 
ing  out  clear  and  distinct  from  all  other  rocks  in  (.he 
neighborhood.  It  is  said  that  Brigham  Young  preached 
from  this  pulpit  on  his  way  to  Salt  Lake  City.  This  rock 
is  60  feet  above  the  track  ;  all  these  rocks  just  spoken  of 
are  over  800  feet  above  the  Railroad  track. 

We  next  come  to  a  station  called  "  Echo,"  a  beautiful 
place  nestling  among  the  mountains,  with  evidences  of 
thrift  on  every  hand  ;  and  the  place  is  rightly  named,  for 
any  kind  of  a  loud  noise  is  echoed  from  every  side,  and 
the  reverberation  of  a  cannon  shot  is  actually  astounding- 

The  rocks  of  Weber  Canon  are  even  more  singular 
than  those  of  the  Echo  Canon.  After  leaving  Echo  we 
soon  notice  on  the  north  side  of  the  track  two  curious 
formations.  The  first  is  a  group  of  reddish  -colored  cones, 
of  different  sizes,  and  varying  some  in  shape,  but,  on  the 
whole,  remarkably  uniform  in  their  appearance.  These 
are  known  as  the  Battlement  Rocks.  Next  comes  the 
weird  forms  of  "  The  Witches,"  looking  as  though  they 
were  talking  to  each  other,  of  a  gray  color.  How  these 
columns  were  ever  formed  is  a  question  of  interest  to  the 
geologist.  One  of  these  Witches,  at  least,  looks  as  if 
she  was  afflicted  with  the  Grecian  Bend  ;  and  all  of  these 


55 

rocks  stand  as  if  they  were  mocking  time  and  its  changes. 
High  up  on  the  face  of  a  bluff,  to  the  left  as  you  pass 
through  the  gorge,  you  will  see  little  holes  or  caves  worn 
by  the  elements.  In  these  holes  the  eagles  build  their 
nests.  This  bluff  is  called  "Eagle  Nest  Kock.''  Every 
year  the  proud  monarch  of  the  air  finds  here  a  safe  place 
for  her  young.  It  is  beyond  the  reach  of  man,  and  ac 
cessible  only  to  the  birds  of  the  air. 

We  now  pass  from  these  wonderful  structures  of  red 
and  yellow  stone  to  one  of  peace  and  quietness,  for  we 
come  out  into  a  broad  and  spacious  plain,  called  the 
Great  Salt  Lake  Plains,  dotted  here  and  there  with  nume 
rous  houses,  and,  what  to  us  is  very  peculiar,  we  noticed 
that  the  houses  here  had  many  doors  of  entrance  on  either 
side.  On  inquiring,  we  are  told  that  these  houses  belong 
to  Mormons,  and  each  apartment  on  the  first  floor  con 
tains  a  family  of  one  wife  and  her  children,  and  of 
course,  they  never  intrude  on  their  neighbors'  premises, 
but  have  a  door  to  come  in  and  go  out  of  their  own  ;  and 
so  it  is  now  understood  among  us,  when  we  see  a  house 
with  more  than  one  door  for  entrance,  we  count  the  doors 
to  tell  how  many  wives  there  are  inside. 

We  next  come  to  a  Tree,  which  is  looked  for  by  the 
passengers,  as  we  are  told  such  a  tree  does  exists,  and  on 
this  tree  hangs  a  sign  with  these  words,  "1,000  Miles 
from  Omaha,"  and  it  is  the  only  tree  for  some  distance 
from  this  place. 

High  up  on  the  rocks,  to  the  right  as  you  pass  ahead, 
see  how  the  storms  have  made  holes  in  projecting  points, 
through  which  light  and  sky  beyond  can  be  observed. 
Now  look  back  and  see  another  similar  formation  on  the 
opposite  side — one  to  be  seen  looking  ahead,  the  other 
looking  back. 

I  should  have  mentioned,  when  giving  the  description 
about  the  rocks,  and  told  you  of  another  rock,  called 
the  Devil's  Slide.  This  Slide  is  represented  by  two  tiers 
of  granite  stone,  about  14  feet  apart,  standing  on  their 
edges,  running  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  to  its  base ; 


56 

and  I  said  about  14  feet  apart,  wide  enough  to  let  the 
devil  slide  in  without  hitting  either  side.  There  is  a 
smooth  surface  between  these  two  ledges,  and  they  are 
about  800  feet  long,  up  and  down  the  mountain.  The 
devil,  I  am  told,  takes  this  method  to  get  down  the  moun 
tain,  by  sliding  down  the  inclined  plane,  when  he  is  in  a 
hurry  to  catch  some  Eastern  train  coming  around  the 
bend.  At  the  bottom  of  the  slide  is  quite  a  body  af  water 
for  the  devil  to  slake  his  thirst  when  calling  on  his  friends 
aboard  the  trains  from  the  East,  as  the  devil  never  drinks 
anything  stronger  than  water,  although  whisky  was  first 
made  by  him — he  leaves  that  for  man  to  drink. 

We  have  now  passed  through  the  Wahsatch  Moun 
tains,  and  have  come  into  what  I  have  mentioned  before, 
a  beautiful  plain,  with  all  the  beauties  of  farms  and  farm 
houses,  the  lands  reclaimed  from  the  waste  of  a  dreary 
desert  and  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose ;  for,  as  before 
mentioned,  we  are  now  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley, 
and  we  have  at  last  arrived  at  Ogden,  the  terminus  of  the 
U.  P.  R.  R.  Co.  in  the  West ;  and  here  we  leave  the 
main  road  for  Salt  Lake  City,  which  is  about  37  miles 
from  here,  going  in  a  southerly  direction. 

But  before  arriving  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin, 
you  pass  through  the  DeviF  s  Gap  with  the  Devil' s  Gate, 
and  several  other  odd  characteristics  about  it.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  places  on  the  line  of  the  road. 
The  waters  of  the  Weber  River,  as  if  enraged  at  their  at 
tempted  restraint,  rush  wildly  along — now  on  one  side 
of  the  road  and  now  on  the  other  ;  and  now,  headed  off 
completely  by  a  projecting  ledge  before  them,  turn  madly 
to  the  right,  determined,  with  irresistible  strength,  to 
force  their  way  through  the  mountain.  Foiled  in  this, 
they  turn  abruptly  to  the  left,  still  rushing  madly  on, 
and  at  last  find  their  way  out  to  the  plains  beyond.  If 
Echo  was  grand  and  Weber  grander,  the  Devil's  Gate  is 
the  grandest  of  them  all. 

We  arrived  at  Ogden  at  5  P.  M  ,  and  two  hours  later 
started  for  the  Mormon  settlement,  and  arrived  there  at  9 


57 

o'clock,  p.  M.,   and  went  to  the  Walker  House,  kept  by 
a  gentile. 

The  next  morning  I  started  out  to  hunt  up  an  Odd 
Fellow.  I  was  directed  to  a  very  large  man  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street  ;  I  introduced  myself,  and  learned  he 
was  the  Noble  Grand  of  one  of  the  Lodges  in  the  city.  I 
had  a  very  pleasant  time  with  him,  and  while  in  conversa 
tion  asked  him  how  polygamy  was  looked  upon  by  the 
Odd  Fellows.  He  answered  very  promptly  by  saying 
that  Odd  Fellowship  had  nothing  to  do  with  Brigham 
Young  or  his  opinions  ;  that  they  did  not  mix  with  men 
who  had  more  than  one  wife,  and  would  black-ball  every 
one  who  was  proposed  of  the  Mormon  faith. 

As  he  spoke  so  positive,  I  thought  I  would  ask  him 
about  Odd  Fellowship  and  Catholicism.  His  answer  was 
the  same.  I  left  him  and  went  on  my  voyage  of  discov 
ery.  But,  Brothers,  that  great  big  man  told  me  a  lie — 
an  awful  lie— when  he  was  giving  the  Mormons  such  a 
running  down  and  talking  about  black-balling  them,  for  at 
that  moment  he  was  a  Mormon  himself,  with  five  wives  ; 
he  afterwards  told  Past- Grand  Master  Barnes  how  he 
stuffed  me,  and  in  open  Lodge,  in  San  Francisco,  Bro. 
Barnes  told  the  whole  story,  and  I  was  there  and  heard 
him.  Well,  after  leaving  this  beautiful  u  liar,"  I  took  a 
carriage,  with  my  family,  and  rode  about  to  see  the  Mor 
mon  sights. 

I  learn  that  old  Brigham  is  not  at  home,  but  attending 
a  conference  of  his  Saints  300  miles  south,  at  St.  George, 
and  dedicating  a  Mormon  temple.  He  is  76  years  old,  is 
quite  feeble,  and,  as  he  cannot  walk  much,  he  has  a 
three-wheeled  carriage  made  to  hurdle  himself  around  in. 

We  observed  the  people  quite  sharp  to-day,  and  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Mormons  look  and  act 
as  other  people  do.  Business  is  here  conducted  on  the 
same  plan  as  in  other  cities.  The  population  is  about 
25,000,  and  trading  is  conducted  as  elsewhere ;  in  fact, 
everything  passes  off  in  an  orderly  way.  We  visited,  of 
course,  the  Mormon  temple,  but  let  me  tell  you  first-  about 
the  head  devil  of 


58 

Born  in  Vermont,  June  1st,  1801,  he  is  76  years  old. 
He  joined  the  Mormons  in  1833,  at  Kirtland,  Ohio.  At 
the  death  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  original  Mormon,  he  was 
elected  President  and  Prophet  of  the  Mormon  faith.  In 
1846  he  announced  that  Salt  Lake  Valley  had  been  re 
vealed  to  him  as  the  promised  land,  and  founded  Salt 
Lake  City  in  July,  1847.  In  1849  the  Mormons  had  so 
increased  that  they  formed  a  State,  and  called  it  the 
Desert,  but  Congress  refused  to  admit  such  a  State  into  the 
Union  by  that  name,  but,  in  IboO,  Brigham  Young  was  ap 
pointed  Governor  of  the  Territory,  and  continued  so  un 
til  1854  ;  but  the  Mormons  got  ugly  and  detied  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  Buchanan,  in  1857,  appointed 
Alfred  Cummings,  Governor,  and  sent  an  army  of  2,500 
men  to  uphold  his  authority. 

In  1857  the  Governor  declared  the  Mormon  Territory  in 
a  state  of  rebellion,  but,  in  1858,  the  next  year,  a  com 
promise  was  effected  by  which  the  proper  authority  was 
to  be  respected,  and  old  Brigham  was  left  in  power,  as 
Governor,  again.  He  is  six  feet  tall,  and  uncommonly 
compact  and  muscular.  He  measures  44  inches  around 
the  waist ;  his  head  is  of  moderate  size  ;  his  hair  is  chest 
nut  in  color,  abundant  in  growth,  and  combed  in  a  style 
to  the  right  side  of  the  head,  hanging  like  the  cap  of  a 
rooster's  comb.  He  has  nineteen  wives  ;  15  of  them  are 
his  for  time  and  eternity,  the  other  four  are  wives  by 
proxy,  widows  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  original  Mormon. 
The  children  of  the  four  wives,  by  Brigham,  are  credited 
to  Joseph  Smith,  numbering  say  15,  and  go  to  swell 
Joseph  Smith's  kingdom. 

All  Brigham' s  wives  are  called  by  their  maiden  names, 
to  distinguish  them  one  from  the  other.  The  following 
is  a  correct  list  of  Brigham' s  wives,  in  the  order  of  their 
marriage  :  Mary  Ann  Angle.  Lucy  Decker,  Mrs.  Augusta 
Erble,  Harriet  Cook,  Clara  Decker  (sister  to  Lucy),  Erne- 
line  Free,  Lucy  Bigelow,  Zina  D.  Huntington,  Susan 
Snivelly,  Margaretta  Pierce,  Mrs.  Freiss,  Emily  Par 
tridge,  Martha  Boker,  Eliza  Burgess,  Eliza  K.  Snow, 


59 

Harriet  Borney,  Amelia  Folsom — his  favorite,  called 
Princess  Amelia — Mary  Van  Cott,  and  Ann  Eliza  Webb, 
the  nineteenth  and  last.  This  very  much  married  man 
has  only  45  children  living  ;  the  most  of  them  are  grown 
up  and  married — 29  girls  and  16  boys.  Seven  of  Brig- 
ham's  daughters  taste  the  sweets  of  plural  marriage;  two 
of  the  seven  call  Hiram  B.  Cleason  husband  ;  two  call 
George  Thucker  husband,  and  two  are  married  to  Mark 
Croxwell ;  the  seventh  is  the  second  mate  of  Thomas 
Williams. 

Amelia  Folsom.  called  Princess  Amelia,  is  the  only 
one  old  Brigham  lives  with,  he  has  forsaken  all  the  others, 
and  upon  the  Princess  he  bestows  his  kindness,  care  and 
attention.  In  his  household  they  have  what  they  call 
ration  days  ;  once  a  month  each  family  receives  5  Ibs. 
sugar,  1  Ib.  candles,  a  bar  of  soap  and  a  box  of  matches. 
The  rule  with  all  of  them  (except  the  Princess)  is  that  all 
food,  except  the  plainest,  and  all  clothing,  except  what 
nature  requires,  the  wife  must  procure  for  herself  and 
children.  Brigham  promised  to  give  them  $1,000  each  a 
year  for  pin  money,  and  a  good  home,  but  they  get 
nothing  from  him,  and  they  are  obliged  to  earn  their  own 
and  their  children' s  living. 

These  Mormons  have  certain  ceremonies  and  oaths 
when  they  take  persons  into  their  fold,  but  they  amount  to 
nothing,  except  when  they  take  a  solemn  oath  to  bear  eter 
nal  hostility  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
avenge  the  murder  of  their  Prophet,  Joseph  Smith.  In 
this  ceremony  the  women  have  a  long  robe,  which  is 
placed  on  the  right  shoulder,  is  gathered  at  the  waist,  and 
falls  to  the  floor. 

The  men  wear  a  cap  of  linen,  similar  to  those  worn  by 
stone-masons,  and  this  is  the  costume  in  which  a  Mormon 
is  buried.  We  all  went  through  Princess  Amelia' s  house, 
a  new  one,  building  for  her  by  Brigham.  It  is  a  very 
pretty  building,  four  stories  high,  standing  on  a  high 
point  of  the  Prophet's  grounds.  When  on  the  roof  we 
could  look  far  away  for  many  miles,  and  a  beautiful 
sight  it  was. 


60 

The  next  thing  to  tell  you  is  about  the  city  itself. 
First,  the  discovery.  Brigham  landed  here  in  1847,  30 
years  ago.  At  that  time  it  was  a  dreary  waste,  but 
yet  a  beautiful  site,  so  far  as  location  is  concerned, 
for  a  city.  This  city  lies  on  a  gradual  slope  from  the 
Wahsatch  mountains,  which  tower  up  behind  it  on  the 
east  to  River  Jordan  on  the  west.  Orson  Pratt,  one  of 
Brigham' s  faithful  ones,  was  sent  to  spy  out  the  land. 
He  did  this,  and  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1847,  he  rode 
over  the  valley,  then  returned  to  the  main  body,  and  re 
ported  to  Brigham,  when  the  whole  encampment  went  to 
view  the  land  themselves.  On  the  24th  of  July  they  ar 
rived  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  overlooking  the  site  of  the 
city  and  the  valley  beyond.  They  were  enchanted  with 
the  scene,  and  gave  vent  to  their  joy  in  exclamations  of 
praise  to  God  ;  finally,  believing  that  they  had  found 
the  land  of  promise,  though  it  did  not  flow  with  milk 
and  honey,  the  Zion  of  the  mountains,  predicted  by  the 
ancient  prophets.  The  Mormons  are  great  in  literal  in 
terpretations — to  them  the  Bible  means  just  what  it  says. 
They  had  reasons,  however,  for  rejoicing.  The  Great 
Salt  Lake  glittered  like  silver  in  the  rays  of  the  sun,  be 
fore  them,  the  towering  mountains,  crowned  with  clouds 
and  snow,  lifted  themselves  up  toward  the  sky,  and  the 
valley,  though  a  desert,  was  as  lovely  as  a  June  rose. 

The  party  encamped  on  a  stream,  and  proceeded  to 
consecrate  the  whole  valley  to  the  Kingdom  of  God.— 
Four  days  after,  the  ground  for  the  Temple  was  selected, 
consisting  of  40  acres,  and  a  city  two  miles  square  was 
laid  out,  streets  40  rods  wide  were  staked  off,  and  the 
blocks  contained  10  acres  each. 

Orson  Pratt  took  the  observations,  and  determined  the 
latitude  and  longitude  of  the  place.  A  large  number  of 
this  pioneer  party,  after  planting  their  crops,  returned 
for  their  families.  The  last  party  for  that  year  arrived 
on  the  last  day  of  October,  and  they  were  received  with 
great  rejoicing. 

Brigham  went  back  with  the  returning  party,  and  did 


61 

not  return  to  Zion  again  until  the  following  year.  After 
that  immigration  from  foreign  countries  came  flooding 
in  in  masses ;  the  city  grew,  and  the  people  spread  out 
over  the  territory,  settling  every  available  spot  of  land, 
and  this  contributed  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 

Now,  I  have  been  thus  particular  in  describing  this 
place  to  you,  as  I  suppose  it  is  not  generally  known  how 
the  Mormons  first  started  this  City  of  Zion,  the  Mecca  to 
which  all  good  Mormons  look,  and  expect  to  see  before 
they  are  called  to  visit  brother  Joseph  in  the  other  world. 

In  looking  around,  the  first  thing  to  see  is  the  Sulphur 
Springs,  for  a  bath  ;  and  these  are,  to  invalids,  the  most 
splendid  and  delightful  places  of  resort  in  the  city — ex 
ceedingly  valuable  for  rheumatism  or  dyspepsia,  and 
they  are  excellent  in  invigorating  properties,  and  espe 
cially  good  in  skin  diseases. 

The  Sulphur  Springs  are  about  one  mile  from  our 
hotel,  and  can  be  reached  either  by  horse-car  or  carriage. 
The  best  time  to  enjoy  them  is  early  in  the  morning,  be 
fore  breakfast,  or  just  before  dinner — never  to  be  taken 
within  three  hours  after  eating.  These  springs  issue  from 
the  limestone  rocks  near  the  base  of  the  mountain.  You 
can  get  here  the  Turkish  hot-air  and  the  Russian  bath  in 
addition  to  the  natural  bath. 

From  the  sulphur  bath  we  went  a  mile  further  on,  and 
came  to  the  Hot  Springs  ;  and  here  we  found  hot  water, 
boiling  right  out  of  the  mountain  side,  issiiing  from  lime 
stone  rocks,  and  it  boils  up  with  great  force  ;  the  tempe 
rature  is  near  200  degrees.  Meat  can  be  boiled  for  the 
table  in  a  few  minutes,  and  eggs  can  be  boiled  in  three 
minutes. 

The  next  place  to  visit  is  the  Museum.  This  was  not 
much  of  a  sight  for  us,  and  so  we  went  to  the  grand 
pavillion,  called  the  Tabernacle,  a  building  that  will  seat 
13,000  inside,  and  there  is  not  a  pillar  or  column  to  inter 
cept  the  sight.  The  building  inside  is  250  feet  x  150  feet. 
To  upold  the  roof,  there  is  built  outside  of  the  church, 
and,  next  to  it,  46  pillars,  9  feet  deep  and  3  feet  wide— 


62 

these  form  the  base  for  the  rafters  of  the  roof  to  rest 
upon,  which  are  a  strong  lattice -work  of  timbers  firmly 
bolted  together  and  self-supporting.  The  ceiling  is  62 
feet  high,  and  perforated  with  holes  for  ventilation. 

The  west  end  is  occupied  with  a  platform  on  which 
rests  a  very  large  organ.  This  organ  was  built  in  the 
church  by  the  Mormons  themselves.  The  singers  sit  here, 
also  from  this  platform  Brigham  dispenses  the  G-ospel  to 
his  congregation.  The  bishops  of  this  church  sit  here, 
also,  in  twelve  rows.  In  the  centre  of  the  church  is  a 
large  fountain  of  water,  walled  up  with  small  granite 
stones.  I  walked  up  to  the  fountain,  took  one  of  the 
stones  and  brought  it  home  as  a  gift  from  the  temple.—- 
The  Mormon  who  was  with  me,  showing  the  temple,  said 
nothing,  and  so  one  of  the  stones  from  the  temple  is  in 
the  house  of  a  gentile  for  exhibition  here. 

Brigham  Young' s  grounds  are  surrounded  with  a  very 
high  fence,  made  of  mud  and  stone  cemented  together. 
This  fence  is  not  easily  scaled,  and  inside  his  grounds 
are  laid  out  as  only  money,  tact,  and  wit,  can  direct  ; 
gentiles  are  not  generally  admitted  to  these  grounds. 

On  these  grounds  is  the  Endowment  House,  of  which 
so  much  has  been  said  and  written.  In  this  building  all 
the  marriages  are  performed  and  other  rites  of  the  church 
are  conducted.  No  gentile' s  eye  is  ever  permitted  to  look 
upon  the  altar  where  polygamy  is  so  successfully  car 
ried  on. 

Nearly  opposite  to  this  building  is  a  large  and  beauti 
ful  house  that  belongs  to  Princess  Amelia,  called  the 
Amelia  Palace,  and  it  is  one  of  the  places  shown  to  visit 
ors.  There  were  many  other  objects  of  interest,  which 
time  will  not  permit  me  to  mention  ;  but  I  want  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  manner  of  irrigation  conducted  in 
this  city.  This  city  was  originally  laid  out  in  ten  acre 
lots,  running  at  right  angles.  Now  there  is  a  large  stream 
of  water  flowing  from  the  mountains  back  of  the  city, 
and  this  stream  is  made  to  run  along  the  upper  edge  of 
the  city,  and  from  this  large  stream  many  smaller  streams 


63 

flow  into  the  streets,  running  down  the  hill  or  descent  of 
the  city,  for  this  city  is  partially  built  on  a  side  hill,  con 
sequently  each  street  has  a  stream,  greater  or  smaller,  as 
the  water  may  be  used,  and  at  the  corner  of  each  street 
is  built  a  kind  of  wooden  lock  to  turn  the  water  one  way 
or  the  other.  The  city  is  divided  into  wards,  and  each 
ward  has  its  master,  and  he  compels  all  of  the  inhabi 
tants  to  turn  out  and  work  on  public  improvements.— 
There  is  no  shirking — every  one  has  a  responsibility  to 
guard  and  watch  his  own  property  and  take  care  of  his 
irrigating  ditches  and  keep  his  ward  in  perfect  order. 
This  city  is  in  perfect  order  and  quietness,  more  so  than 
any  other  city  I  was  ever  in,  and  so,  go  where  you  will, 
you  will  find  running  water,  and  plenty  of  it,  too,  so  that 
it  carries  off  all  impurities,  and  to-day  Salt  Lake  City  is 
the  most  healthy  of  any  on  this  Continent.  JSTow,  I  have 
just  one  other  place  to  mention  before  leaving  Salt  Lake 
City,  and  that  is  the  Great  Salt  Lake  itself.  This  lake  is 
about  20  miles  from  the  city  ;  so  one  morning  my  son 
Frank  and  myself  got  up  very  early  and  took  a  narrow- 
guaged  railroad  that  runs  across  the  head  of  the  lake 
into  the  mines  in  the  mountains. 

We  stopped  at  a  place  called  Lake  Point,  and  we  went 
down  to  the  water.  We  found  a  good  dock  and  bathing 
houses,  also,  a  large  steamboat  for  summer  excursions, 
with  a  stern  wheel,  called  a  Mississippi  Steamboat.  We 
found  the  captain  and  his  wife  on  board,  and  they  treated 
us  very  kindly. 

I  drew  up  some  of  the  water  and  tasted  it,  and  found 
it  very  salt  indeed.  The  lady  gave  me  a  small  bottle  of 
salt  that  she  had  gathered  last  summer  off  the  shores  of 
the  lake.  The  salt  will  crystalize,  and  a  crust  of  salt 
will  be  formed  on  shore  almost  any  fine  day.  ~No  fish  of 
any  |kind  will  live  in  this  lake,  neither  will  a  person 
swimming  sink  in  it,  the  only  thing  you  have  to  do  is  to 
keep  your  head  up  and  not  get  your  feet  where  your 
head  ought  to  be.  A  person  can  walk  from  the  shore 
into  the  water  up  to  his  arm-pits,  and  then  he  will  float. 


64 

This  lake  is  about  100  miles  long  by  50  miles  wide.     The 
water  looks  very  blue. 

We  walked  about  the  shore  and  picked  up  quite  a 
quantity  of  curious  stones,  thrown  up  by  the  waves  ;  we 
had  our  dinner  at  the  hotel  near  by,  and  then  took  the 
train  for  the  city.  While  at  Salt  Lake  City  I  attended  a 
gentile  mass  meeting.  It  was  gotten  up  against  Mor- 
monism.  The  outsiders,  or  Gentiles,  as  they  are  called 
here,  are  in  arms  against  the  Mormons  ;  I  tell  you,  the 
gentiles  gave  old  Erigham  fits  ;  they  talk  very  bitter 
against  him,  and  are  determined  to  break  up  Mormonism, 
root  and  branch,  in  this  city,  but  my  opinion  is  they  have 
a  big  job  on  hand — however,  the  Gentiles  are  getting  in 
the  majority,  and  they  talk  plainer  now  than  they  did 
some  years  ago. 

Sunday,  April  15th,  was  a  very  still  day,  and  we  spent 
it  very  quietly  as  pleasure-seekers.  No  rum-shops  were 
open.  The  people  here  go  to  church,  both  old  and 
young — they  drop  all  kinds  of  business  and  attend 
church  ;  the  Sabbath  schools  are  well  attended,  also. 

With  other  guests  of  our  hotel,  I  went  to  a  Mormon 
church  in  the  18th  ward.  There  is  no  service  held  in  the 
Tabernacle  during  the  winter  months,  because  the  build 
ing  is  so  large  they  have  no  way  of  warming  it ;  but 
each  ward  has  a  Mormon  chapel,  and  services  are  held 
in  them  on  Sunday.  In  the  one  that  I  attended  the  ser 
vices  were  much  after  the  form  of  the  Campbellites  in 
Illinois,  years  ago.  They  have  preaching  by  one  of  the 
elders,  and  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  much  difference 
between  them  and  the  Methodists  of  our  own  city.  At 
all  their  meetings  they  have  bread  and  water  adminis 
tered  before  parting.  The  preaching  was  Christ,  and 
him  crucified,  and  called  on  all  classes  to  repent  of  their 
sins  and  come  to  Christ  to  be  saved  ;  but  the  cursed  sin 
of  polygamy  kills  off  all  the  good  they  may  do,  in  my 
estimation. 

On  Saturday  night  I  visited  an  Odd  Fellow's  Lodge, 
called   Jordan  Lodge,    No.    3.      I  was  received  in  due 


65 

form,  and  invited  to  take  a  seat  to  the  right  of  the  Noble 
Grand.  I  found  they  were  better  posted  in  the  unwritten 
work  than  I  had  expected.  The  Grand  Master  of  Utah 
Territory,  L.  P.  Higbee,  was  there,  and  other  distinguished 
brothers  also.  The  Grand  Master  exemplified  the  un 
written  work,  and  did  it  well,  too,  hardly  missing  a 
word,  the  same  as  P.  G.  M.  Stebbins,  when  here,  a 
year  ago. 

This  Jordan  Lodge  had  preferred  charges  against  one 
of  its  members,  for  conduct  unbecoming  an  Odd  Fellow. 
The  Lodge  members  upheld  the  erring  brother,  but  the 
Grand  officers  being  in  attendance,  they  heard  the  testi 
mony,  and  when  the  Grand  Lodge  of  that  Territory  met, 
at  Ogden,  the  following  week,  they  passed  a  resolution 
requesting  Jordan  Lodge  to  expel  the  erring  brother,  and 
if  they  would  not,  or  could  not,  then  the  Grand  Lodge 
would  expel  the  Lodge  from  all  the  privileges  of  our 
order.  I  have  never  heard  just  how  the  Lodge  settled 
the  case  ;  Jordan  Lodge  did  not  close  till  midnight. 

Tuesday  morning,  April  17th,  in  company  with  the 
Grand  officers,  I  took  the  train  for  Ogden,  to  attend  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  Territory  of  Utah.  We  arrived  in 
due  time,  and  there  I  found  P.  G.  M.  Barnes,  of  the 
Heart  and  Hand,  also  P.  G.  Alexander,  "of  New  York 
City  ;  I  tell  you  I  was  glad  to  see  them. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Territory  of  Utah  convened, 
and  I  was  introduced  to  the  Grand  Lodge  by  D.  G.  M. 
Hemingdray,  in  a  neat  speech.  The  Grand  Master  re 
sponded  at  length,  and  received  me  in  the  name  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Utah.  I  took  my  seat  among  the  bro 
thers,  and  in  a  few  minutes  it  appeared  to  me  as  if  I  was 
at  home  among  my  own  brothers,  for  they  did  their  best 
to  make  me  feel  so.  I  remained  with  the  brothers  until 
5  p.  M.,  then  took  leave  of  them,  shaking  hands  with 
<3very  man,  from  the  Grand  Master  to  the  Outside  Guar 
dian,  in  the  ante-room,  and  then  strolled  down  to  the 
Depot  to  meet  my  folks  from  Salt  Lake  City.  They  were 
on  hand  in  time,  and  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  we  were  in  our 
drawing-room  ready  to  continue  our  journey  westward. 


LECTURE  NO.  3. 


BROTHERS  :  My  second  lecture  left  us  at  Ogden,  in  a 
palace  drawing  room  car,  at  7  P.  M.,  April  17th,  1877, 
ready  to  start  westward  again. 

The  first  thing  of  notice  are  the  steaming  hot  springs 
close  on  the  right  of  the  track.  These  springs  are  of  both 
iron  and  sulphur,  and  from  the  sediment  deposited  over 
quite  an  area  of  ground  near  by,  I  should  think  that 
iron  predominated. 

The  first  town  of  note  we  come  to  is  Corinne,  857  miles 
from  San  Francisco.  Here  is  an  Odd  Fellow's  Lodge  ; 
though  the  brothers  are  not  many  in  number,  yet  they 
are  very  zealous  in  the  good  work  ;  and  here  Mormonism 
has  no  hold  in  the  city. 

On  the  completion  of  the  R.  R.  here,  the  gentiles  took 
possession  of  the  town,  and  they  were  determined  to 
maintain  their  ascendency.  From  that  time,  this  place 
has  been  an  object  of  defamation  by  the  Mormons. 

In  early  history  this  town  was  a  rough  place  ;  but  the 
roughs  have  passed  on,  or  they  fill  unknown  graves,  and 
the  town  is  governed  by  men  of  character  and  religious 
principles. 

We  soon  arrive  at  Promontory  Point,  804  miles  from 
San  Francisco.  It  is  here  where  the  two  roads  meet,  the 
U.  P.  R.  R.  from  the  East,  and  the  0.  P.  R.  R.  from  the 
West.  On  the  10th  day  of  May,  1869,  the  marriage  took 
place. 

If  I  had  the  time  I  would  like  to  tell  you  j  list  how  this 
whole  thing  was  done,  but  it  would  take  too  long  ;  yet  I 
will  give  you  some  of  the  facts.  At  8  A.  M.  spectators  be 
gan  to  arrive  ;  at  9  A.  M.  the  whistle  of  the  C.  R.  from 
the  west  was  heard,  bringing  a  large  number  of  dignita- 


67 

jries  to  witness  this,  the  grandest  scene  ever  performed 
by  man.  Just  before  noon  the  announcement  was  made 
at  Washington  that  the  driving  of  the  last  spike  of  the 
R.  R.  was  then  going  on,  and  thus  the  great  II.  R.  would 
be  a  positive  fact ;  and  instantly,  at  Washington,  a  great 
crowd  gathered  around  the  telegraph  office  to  hear  the 
final  report. 

The  manager  of  the  telegraph  company  placed  a  mag 
netic  ball  where  all  present  could  see  it,  and  connected 
the  same  with  the  main  line,  notifying  the  places  all 
along  the  lines  of  telegraph  that  he  was  ready,  and  in 
stantly  New  York,  San  Francisco  and  Boston  announced 
that  they  were  ready.  In  San  Francisco  the  lines  were 
connected  with  the  alarm  bell  in  the  tower,  where  the 
heavy  ringing  of  the  bell  might  speed  the  news  imme 
diately  over  the  city  as  quick  as  the  event  was  com 
pleted.  Waiting  for  some  time  in  impatience,  at  last 
came  this  message  from  Promontory  Point:  "Almost 
ready— hats  off,  prayer  is  being  offered."  A  silence 
for  the  prayer  ensued.  The  bell  tolled  again,  and  the 
office  at  Promontory  Point  said:  "We  have  got  done 
praying,  and  the  spike  is  about  to  be  presented."  Chi 
cago  replied:  "We  understand  all  are  ready  in  the 
East."  Answer  came  :  "All  are  ready — now  the  spike 
will  soon  be  driven — the  sign  will  be  three  dots  from  the 
commencement  of  the  blows."  For  a  moment  all  was 
silent,  and  then  the  hammer  of  the  magnet  tapped  the 
bell,  1,  2,  3,  the  signal.  Another  pause  of  a  few  mo 
ments,  and  the  lightning  came  flashing  back  "Done," 
and  the  great  American  Continent  was  successfully  span 
ned.  Immediately  thereafter  there  flashed  over  the  lines 
the  announcement  to  the  Associated  Press  these  words  : 
"  The  last  rail  is  laid,  the  last  spike  is  driven,  the  Pacific 
R.  R.  is  completed  ;"  and  the  point  of  junction  is  1,086 
miles  west  from  Missouri  River  and  690  miles  east  from 
Sacramento. 

Such  w^ere  the  telegraphic  incidents  that  attended  the 
completion  of  the  greatest  work  of  the  age  ;  but,  during 


these  few  expectant  moments,  the  scene  itself,  at  Pro-, 
montory  Point,  was  very  impressive. 

After  the  rival  engines  had  made  up  toward  each  other, 
a  call  was  made  for  the  masses  to  stand  back,  so  that  all 
could  see.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Todd,  of 
Massachusetts,  remarks  were  made  by  General  Doyle  and 
Gov.  Sanford,  three  cheers  were  given  for  the  Government 
of  the  U.  S.,  for  the  R.  R.,  for  the  President,  for  the  Star 
Spangled  Banner,  for  the  owners,  and  for  those  who  fur 
nished  the  means.  Four  spikes  were  then  presented — two 
of  them  were  gold,  and  the  other  two  were  silver. 

They  were  furnished  by  Montana,  Idaho,  California 
and  Nevada..  They  were  each  about  seven  inches  long, 
and  a  little  larger  than  the  ordinary  railroad  spike. 

Dr.  Harkness,  of  Sacramento,  delivered  Gov.  Sanford 
a  spike  of  pure  gold,  arid  a  speech  attending  it ;  Hon. 
F.  A.  Frittle,  of  Nevada,  presented  a  spike  of  pure  silver, 
with  this  beautiful  remark  :  "  To  the  Iron  of  the  East, 
and  the  Gold  of  the  West,  Nevada  adds  the  link  of  Sil 
ver  to  span  the  Continent  and  weld  the  Oceans  together.'1 
Dr.  Durand  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  rail  and  Gov. 
Sanford  on  the  south  side.  At  a  given  signal  these  two 
gentlemen  struck  the  spikes,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
electric  spark  was  sent  through  the  wires  in  all  direc 
tions,  giving  the  joyful  tidings  ;  then  the  engines  moved 
up  a  little  nearer,  until  they  touched  each  other,  and  a  bot 
tle  of  wine  was  poured  on  the  rail  as  a  libation.  Imme 
diately  after  these  ceremonies  were  finished,  the  rail,  the 
ties  and  nails  were  removed  for  safe  keeping,  arid  in  their 
place  ordinary  ones  were  substituted. 

Now,  Brothers,  I  have  been  much  longer  telling  you 
just  how  this  wonderful  work  was  finished  than  I  first 
intended ;  but  if  you  are  satisfied.  I  am,  and  so  we  will 
pass  on  our  journey. 

We  next  come  to  a  station  called  the  "Lake,"  and 
here  I  find  a  board  sticking  up  alongside  of  the  track, 
saying  that  just  here  the  constructing  employees  laid 
ten  miles  of  railroad  in  one  day — a  pretty  good  day's 


work,  yon  may  say — yes,  that  is  so  ;  but  you  must  re 
collect  that  we  are  still  passing  over  the  plains,  very 
level  country,  alkali  though  it  be,  and  they  had  over 
6,000  Chinamen  to  work  on  the  road. 

The  next  point  of  attention  is  a  place  called  Monument, 
804  miles  from  'Frisco.  An  isolated  rock  rises  like  a  mon 
ument  in  the  lake  on  the  left,  while  the  hill  on  the  right 
is  crowned  with  turrets  and  projecting  rocks  arid  domes. 

We  next  come  to  Lucin,  a  station  734  miles  from 
San  Francisco.  Just  beyond  here  we  strike  Grouse 
Creek,  which  rises  in  the  hills  north.  This  creek  sinks 
in  the  Sandy  Desert,  for  we  are  now  on  the  Great  Ameri 
can  Sandy  Desert,  and  this  is  the  first  water  that  we 
come  to  that  sinks  into  the  earth,  and  has  no  outlet  as 
other  streams  have. 

As  we  near  the  next  station,  called  "Tecoma,1'  the 
traveler  will  notice  a  small  granite  monument  on  the  lef* 
side  of  the  track,  marking  the  Nevada  State.  As  we  pass 
this  monument,  we  enter  the  land  of  the  Big  Bonanza. 

Tecoma,  the  station  that  we  are  at  now,  is  celebrated 
for  being  the  station  of  the  Tecoma  mines,  owned  by 
Howland  &  Aspinwall,  of  New  York  City. 

Leaving  Tecoma,  the  railroad  continues  over  a  sage 
brush  and  grease  wood  plains  ;  and,  as  we  travel  over 
these  plains,  we  approach  the  grand  old  Pilot  Peak,  the 
landmark  for  many  miles  on  this  road,  and  is  held  in 
great  regard  by  the  emigrant  trains  crossing  the  plains  of 
the  dreary  Desert.  We  must  keep  in  mind  also,  that  we 
are,  at  this  place,  near  6,000  feet  high. 

The  next  is  Dead  Man's  Spring  Station.  A  man  was 
found  dead  here  one  morning,  killed  by  his  partner,  who 
.fled  with  all  of  the  dead  man's  traps.  The  news  spread, 
the  man  was  chased  into  another  State,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  be  hung.  The  mob  collected,  took  him 
from  the  jail ;  the  next  morning  he  was  found  hanging 
to  a  telegraph  pole,  and  the  spring  is  called  the  Dead 
Man' s  Spring  to  this  day. 

We  are  now  passing  into  the  far-famed  HumboldtYal- 


70 

ley,  669  miles  from  San  Francisco  ;  Humboldt  Wells  are 
next  passed — there  are  about  thirty  of  them.  As  no  vol 
canic  evidences  appear  here,  these  wells  must  be  natural 
ones,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  soil  about  here,  these 
wells  do  not  rise  and  pass  away,  as  other  wells  do,  in  a 
more  compact  soil.  This  is  the  great  watering  station 
for  all  kinds  of  trains,  trails,  emigrant  stations,  and  so 
forth.  The  Grass  Creek,  the  Thousand  Spring  Valley, 
and  the  Cedar  Pass  Roads,  all  meet  at  this  place.  Emi 
grants  always  rejoice  when  they  have  passed  the  perils 
of  the  Great  American  Desert  and  arrived  at  these 
springs,  where  there  is  plenty  of  water  and  abundance 
of  grass  for  their  weary  and  worn  animals  ;  hence  it  is  a 
favorite  camping  ground. 

\Ve  are  now  at  Elcho  Station,  celebrated  as  a  watering 
station.  North,  one  mile  from  here,  are  six  wells  or 
springs,  three  of  hot  water  and  three  of  cold.  The  hot 
springs  show  185°  Fahrenheit,  and  one  of  them  is  called 
the  Chicken  Soup  Spring.  With  a  little  salt  and  pepper 
for  seasoning,  the  water  tastes  very  much  like  chicken 
broth. 

We  will  now  take  our  leave  of  this  city,  and  refreshed 
with  food  and  rest,  we  resume  our  westward  trip.  The 
valley  continues  to  widen  for  a  few  miles  as  we  advance, 
and  in  the  cool  morning,  clouds  of  steam  can  be  seen 
rising  from  the  hot  springs  on  the  left. 

We  soon  cross  Susan's  Creek,  then  Maggie's  Creek, 
then  Amelia's  Creek,  then  Mary's  Creek,  and  this  brings 
U3  up  to  "Carlin,"  585  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and 
5,000  feet  high.  In  the  vicinity  of  Carlin,  the  four  little 
creeks  come  in  from  the  north,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  named — ''Susie,"  "Maggie,"  "  Amelia,"  and 
u  Mary."  These  four  creeks  are  named  after  an  emigrant 
family,  who  passed  through  here  in  the  early  days  of 
traveling  to  the  Far  West,  and,  as  the  father  of  this  family 
saw  these  four  creeks,  he  named  them  as  above-men 
tioned,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  family  of  four 
girls. 


71 

Next  in  order  is  Shoshone,  an  Indian  village  so  called. 
Fenimore  Cooper  would  doubtless  call  it  an  Indian  vil 
lage,  but  it  requires  a  great  stretch  of  imagination  on  the 
part  of  an  American,  or  a  live  Yankee,  to  see  it  in  that 
light.  A  dozen  or  so  of  tents,  discolored  with  smoke 
and  besmeared  with  dirt  and  grease,  revealing  from  six 
to  ten  squalid  beings,  covered  with  vermin,  filth,  and 
rags,  is  not  calculated  to  create  a  pleasing  impression,  or 
waken  imaginary  flights  to  any  great  extent. 

These  Indians  are  called  the^Shoshones  ;  their  reserva 
tion  proper  is  at  Carlin,  but  for  some  reason  best  known 
to  themselves  they  are  never  found  there,  but  prefer 
looking  out  for  themselves,  by  stealing  from  the  travel 
ers  rather  than  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  agency 
for  Indians.  These  Indians  are  inveterate  gamblers, 
and  a  group  of  squaws  will  sit  for  many  hours  on  the 
ground  around  a  blanket,  stretched  out,  and  throw 
sticks.  There  are  usually  five  of  these  sticks,  from 
four  to  five  inches  long,  and  painted  on  one  side.  Each 
squaw  has  a  rock,  or  a  piece  of  coal,  or  some  other  hard 
substance  along  side  of  her.  She  will  gather  these  sticks, 
and  give  them  a  toss  up,  so  that  they  will  fall  on  the  hard 
substance,  and  will  bound  from  that  to  the  blanket,  and 
the  point  of  the  game  is  to  see  how  many  of  these  painted 
sides  shall  come  upon  the  blanket.  It  seems  to  be  a  per 
fect  game  of  chance,  and  the  one  who  can  turn  up  the 
most  painted  sides  has  the  game. 

We  again  come  to  Hot  Springs,  near  the  Maiden's 
Grave;  this  stream  comes  from  the  mountain  side.  The 
water  is  boiling  hot,  and  partakes  of  sulphur. 

We  are  coming  into  the  cattle  region  again.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Iliff  took  the  lead  in  cattle;  but  here  are  men  who  can 
sell  him  and  his  cattle,  and  then  have  as  many  head  of 
cattle  to  spare  as  he  had  at  first. 

The  Humboldt  Valley  and  its  tributaries  constitute  the 
best  part  of  the  State  for  stock  ranges;  the  snow  does  not 
fall  very  deep,  does  not  stop  very  long,  and  the  grass 
makes  its  appearance  very  early  in  the  Spring. 


72 

We  are  now  at  Battle  Mountain,  524  miles  from  San 
Francisco,  located  at  the  junction  of  Rese  River  and 
Humboldt  Valley.  This  is  the  regular  dinner  station, 
and  the  passengers  dine  at  a  cosy  and  attractive  place, 
and  here  the  traveler  will  listen  to  the  beautiful  "Ah 
Sin."  This  town  is  in  a  lumber  country  ;  here  also  a 
battle  was  fought  with  the  red  skins,  who  had  a  hanker 
ing  after  the  stock  of  the  white  man,  but  "  Lo"  got  the 
worst  of  it,  as  the  story  runs. 

Hot  springs  are  found  here  also,  nearly  sixty  of  them, 
covering  nearly  half  a  section  of  land.  The  largest  is 
about  sixty  feet  long,  by  thirty  feet  wide,  and  at  times 
rises  and  falls  from  three  to  five  feet. 

Leaving  Battle  Mountain,  we  have  a  straight  track  for 
about  twenty  miles  across  a  sage-brush  plain,  the  Hum 
boldt  River  being  on  our  right. 

Stone  House  soon  comes  to  view,  504  miles  from  San 
Francisco;  quite  a  number  of  battles  have  been  fought 
here  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians,  and  many  graves 
can  be  seen  on  both  sides  of  the  track  as  we  pass  along. 
Hot  springs  are  seen  here  also;  in  fact,  hot  springs  are 
found  at  almost  every  station  from  this  out,  and  seem  to 
denote  that  this  is  nothing  but  a  volcanic  country. 

We  are  now  at  Winimucca,  463  miles  from  San  Fran 
cisco.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  a  chief  of  that  name  of 
the  Piute  Indians — the  name  itself  means  chief.  This 
town  is  the  county  seat  of  Humboldt  County.  The 
Piutes  have  their  tents  scattered  in  all  directions  here, 
to  which  the  name  of  Wick-ee-up  is  given.  They  seem 
to  remind  one  of  departed  glory,  if  they  ever  had  any— 
the  Indian  race  I  mean.  I  have  not  much  to  say  in  honor 
of  an  Indian,  but  of  this  tribe,  to  their  honor  be  it  said, 
licentiousness  among  their  women  is  very  rare,  and  virtue 
is  held  in  high  esteem;  but  very  few  half-breeds  can  be 
found,  or  are  known  in  the  State.  This  tribe,  with  the 
Bannocks,  were  especially  hostile  to  the  whites  in  early 
days,  and  fought  for  many  years  with  desperation  and 
cruelty  to  prevent  the  settlement  and  development  of  this 


73 

country.  This  courage  and  deadly  enmity  lias  been  dis 
played  on  many  a  hard-fought  field;  and  if  there  are 
families  in  the  East  or  on  the  Pacific  who  still  mourn  the 
loss  of  missing  ones,  who  were  last  heard  from  as  cross 
ing  the  plains,  some  Indian  warrior  yet  living  might  be 
able  to  explain  the  mystery  which  has  enveloped  their 
final  fate. 

For  a  number  of  years  they  hung  around  the  trains  of 
emigrants  with  ceaseless  vigilance,  eager  to  dispatch  a 
stray  victim,  and  upon  the  borders  of  settlements,  ready 
to  strike  down  the  hardy  pioneer  at  the  first  favorable 
opportunity;  but  at  present,  overpowered  by  numbersr 
they  live  upon  the  bounty  of  their  former  enemies,  and 
are  slowly  learning  the  ways  of  civilization.  As  a  class t 
they  are  still  indolent,  dirty,  and  covered  with  vermin  ; 
but  they  begin  to  learn  the  worth  of  money,  and  know 
already  that  it  has  a  purchasing  power  which  will  supply 
their  scanty  wardrobe  and  satisfy  their  longing  appetites. 

In  passing  down  this  plain  we  see,  on  our  left,  a  moun 
tain,  said  to  be  the  highest  peak  in  this  country,  8,000 
feet  high.  It  is  called  Star  Peak,  and  its  lofty  summit 
is  always  covered  with  snow.  Opposite  this  mountain  is 
Humboldt,  423  miles  from  San  Francisco. 

We  now  arrive  at  an  oasis  in  the  desert.  The  traveler 
from  the  East  will  be  especially  delighted  with  Hum 
boldt  ;  it  will  remind  him  of  things  human,  and  of  living 
in  a  land  of  cultivation  again.  The  first  growing  tree 
since  leaving  Ogden  will  here  be  seen,  with  green  grass 
and  flowing  fountains.  Humboldt  House  is  a  regular 
breakfast  and  supper  station,  at  which  passengers  stop  for 
meals.  A  fountain,  surrounded  with  an  iron  fence,  springs 
up  in  front  of  the  house,  while  gold  fish  swim  around 
in  the  basin  below.  East  of  the  house,  locust  and  poplar 
trees  are  growing  finely,  while  the  ground  is  covered 
thickly  with  blue  grass.  Alkali  grass  was  first  grown, 
and  was  very  profitable,  and  a  plot  of  this  grass  has  been 
cut  from  five  to  seven  times  in  one  season.  This  is  a 
pretty  tough  story,  but  yet  it  is  a  fact. 


74 

The  average  growth  of  potatoes  is  300  bushels  to  the 
acre,  arid  of  the  very  best  quality. 

Here,  almost  in  the  midst  of  the  Great  Nevada  Desert, 
with  barenness  and  desolation  on  every  hand,  with  a  high, 
rocky  mountain  on  one  side,  and  a  huge  alkali  flat  on 
the  other,  nestled  under  the  towering  cliffs  as  though  it 
would  claim  shelter  and  protection,  is  this  oasis  in  the 
desert,  this  reminder  of  more  genial  climes  and  a  more 
kindly  soil.  This  relief  from  the  wearisome,  dreary  views 
which  have  everywhere  met  our  gaze  over  the  largest 
part  of  our  journey,  and  the  experiment  so  successfully 
accomplished  here,  prove,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  de 
sert  can  be  redeemed  and  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose  ; 
grit,  labor,  and  above  all,  water,  will  do  it. 

This  place  and  its  surroundings  cause  the  traveler  not 
only  to  rejoice  over  the  scene  which  here  greets  his  gaze, 
but  serves  to  remind  him  of  his  home — of  God's  country, 
either  in  the  far  east,  or  at  this  point,  in  the  nearer  west. 

Many  mines  of  sulphur  are  found  in  the  mountains 
near  here,  and  they  furnish  employment  for  a  great  many 
men.  These  mines  are  covered  with  ashes  ;  in  fact,  wher 
ever  these  mines  are  found,  there  you  will  find  the  white 
ashes,  indicating  that  at  some  period  they  were  on  fire, 
and  that  the  fire  was  smothered  by  the  accumulation  of 
ashes.  When  the  elements  shall  melt  with  a  fervent 
heat,  the  vast  sulphur  deposits  of  Nevada  will  add  fuel  to 
the  flames,  and  greatly  accelerate  the  melting  process. 

As  we  leave  Humboldt,  we  immediately  come  into 
Alkali  Plains,  or  Desert,  as  it  is  called  here,  covering  a 
very  large  area  of  ground.  Of  all  the  dreary  wastes  to 
be  seen  in  this  section  of  country,  this  desert  is  one  of 
the  most  forbidding  and  desolate. 

The  Humboldt  River  is  seen  on  our  right  as  we  pass 
through  these  alkali  plains  ;  on  our  left  are  the  towering 
peaks  of  the  Humboldt  mountains.  The  valley  itself 
becomes  more  undulating,  but  still  retains  its  dull  mo 
notony. 

"Oreana"  is  soon  reached,  400  miles  from  San  Fran- 


75 

cisco.  The  descent  from  Hurnboldt  has  been  quite  rapid) 
and  we  will  soon  be  at  the  lowest  elevation  in  this  great 
basin  of  sage  brush  and  alkali. 

Leaving  "  Oreana,"  we  pass  along  a  carve  where  the 
Humboldt  River  bends  in  toward  the  hills  on  our  left, 
and  soon  cross  the  river,  which  makes  its  way  into  the 
Humboldt  lake.  The  soil  in  this  neighborhood  is  very 
rich,  and  if  properly  cultivated  and  well  supplied  with 
water,  it  would  produce  immense  crops. 

We  next  reach  White  Plains,  361  miles  from  San  Fran 
cisco.  This  place  is  rightly  named,  for  it  is  surrounded 
by  a  white  alkali  desert,  covered  in  places  with  salt  and 
alkali  deposits. 

The  evidences  of  volcanic  action,  and  a  lava'formation, 
are  everywhere  visible  in  the  hills  and  on  the  plains  in 
the  vicinity.  Though  the  plains  adjoining  the  station  are 
white  with  alkali  or  salt  deposits,  yet  the  ridges  and  up 
lands  to  the  right  are  covered  with  the  reddish  porous 
rocks  and  blackish  sand  which  always  accompany  this 
formation. 

At  White  Plains  we  have  reached  the  lowest  elevation 
on  the  Central  Pacific  R.  R.,  east  of  the  Sierras.  We  are, 
in  fact,  almost  in  the  sink  itself  of  the  Humboldt  and 
Carson  rivers.  These  two  rivers  flow  into  a  large  lake, 
called  the  Humboldt  Sink,  and  it  is  plainly  to  be  seen 
that  this  water  sinks  into  the  sand,  for  there  are  no  out 
lets  to  the  sink. 

Leaving  White  Plains,  we  begin  to  go  up  a  grade,  and 
are  obliged  to  cross  a  divide  between  White  Plains  and 
Hot  Springs  Valley  ;  and  this  divide  is  reached  at  a  place 
called  "Mirage,"  355  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and  it 
is  noted  for  the  atmospheric  forms  seen  there  at  certain 
times!  When  the  atmosphere  is  favorable,  visions  of 
lakes,  mountains,  trees,  rivers,  and  so  forth,  can  be  seen, 
and  many  a  weary  traveler  has  been  deceived  by  the  op 
tical  illusions  that  here  seem  so  real,  and  wondered  why 
he  did  not  reach  the  cooling  lakes  and  spreading  shade, 
that  seemed  so  near,  yet  was  so  far  away. 


76 

The  heat  of  summer  on  these  plains  is  almost  intole 
rable  ;  the  dust  blowing  in  clouds  is  suffocating,  and, 
without  water,  one  can  easily  imagine  how  tantalizing 
such  visions  must  be  to  the  weary  traveler. 

Crossing  the  low  divide,  in  what  may  be  called  the 
terminus  of  the  Antelope  Range,  we  whirl  away  over  a 
down  grade,  and  in  a  few  moments  we  arrive  at  "Hot 
Springs, v  346  miles  from  San  Francisco.  Great  efforts 
have  been  made  here  to  sink  Artesian  wells,  to  obtain 
water  for  the  engines  and  for  the  use  of  the  railroad,  but 
they  have  failed  every  time.  Wells  have  been  sunk  over 
two  thousand  feet  deep,  but  never  reached  water.  In  one 
day  the  drill  went  down  over  95  feet,  the  next  day  less 
than  one  foot,  and  so  on,  but  never  reached  any  water, 
and  that  article  has  to  be  brought  in  pipes  for  many  miles 
from  the  mountains.  This  station  is  named  after  certain 
hot  springs  near  by,  and  can  be  seen  from  the  cars  as  we 
pass  along,  and  they  are  used  by  persons  afflicted  with 
skin  diseases. 

We  leave  this  place,  and  are  once  more  passing  over 
the  alkali  plains  or  desert,  and  a  more  uninviting  place 
than  this  we  have  not  seen  as  yet. 

We  next  come  to  a  place  called  the  Desert,  335  miles 
from  San  Francisco,  and  this  place  is  rightly  named.— 
The  winds  that  sweep  the  barren  plains  here,  keep  the 
sand  around  the  scattering  sage-brush  like  huge  potato 
hills.  Now  we  turn  toward  the  right,  while  boulders  of 
lava,  large  and  small,  greet  the  eye.  The  hill  on  our  left 
dwindles  into  a  plain,  we  round  toward  the  right,  and  ar 
rive  at  "Two  Miles.''  The  gap  in  the  mountains  opens, 
and  we  see  where  the  Truckee  River  comes  tumbling 
down,  and  we  are  passing  down  a  steep  grade  into  the 
valley  of  the  Truckee,  where  green  grass  grows,  green 
trees  and  flowing  water — God's  best  gift  to  man — again 
greets  our  vision.  I  wish  to  explain  about  this  Humboldt 
river,  which  we  have  been  following  so  long  a  time.  It  is 
over  500  miles  long,  and  it  has  several  tributaries  con 
stantly  flowing  into  it,  yet  it  does  not  increase  in  size  as 


77 

other  rivers  do.  After  passing  Winemucca  it  dimin 
ishes  to  a  small  stream,  and  finally  spreads  to  a  mouth, 
and  sinks  out  of  sight. 

We  next  come  to  a  town,  called  Wadsworth,  328  miles 
from  San  Francisco.  It  is  a  little  village  nestling  down 
in  the  valley  of  Truckee,  and  is  overshadowed  by  a  range 
of  mountains  beyond.  Leaving  Wadsworth,  we  cross 
the  Truckee  River,  and  gaze  once  more  with  delight  upon 
trees,  green  meadows,  comfortable  homes,  and  well-tilled 
lands  ;  but,  like  every  thing  else  lovely  in  this  world,  it 
soon  fades  from  our  view,  as  we  rapidly  pass  into  the 
"  Truckee  Canon." 

The  mountains  now  come  down  on  either  side,  as 
though  they  would  shake  hands  across  the  silver  torrent 
that  divides  them ;  now  the  valley  widens  a  little,  then 
comes  together  again,  and  so  we  continue  on  our  jour 
ney,  and  we  hasten  on,  winding  around  promontories  and 
in  and  out  of  ravines,  through  rocky  cuts  and  over  high 
embankments,  with  the  river  rolling  and  tumbling  almost 
beneath  our  feet,  and  the  ragged  peaks  towering  high 
above  us. 

We  soon  come  to  a  place  called  "  Salvia,"  six  miles 
below  Wadsworth.  Now  we  have  something  to  occupy 
our  attention  ;  new  scenes  are  passing  by  at  every  length 
of  the  car,  and  we  have  to  look  sharp  and  quick,  or 
many  of  them  will  be  lost  to  our  view.  We  soon  turn 
to  the  right,  and  come  to  what  the  railroad  men  call  Red 
Rock.  Right  in  front,  and  hanging  over  our  heads,  is 
this  large  mountain  of  lava,  thrown  up  out  of  the  crater 
of  some  volcano  in  ages  past ;  and  the  shape  and  size  of 
this  rock  is  wonderful.  I  have  not  the  language  to  ex 
press  to  you  just  how  this  monster  appeared  to  me — it 
must  be  seen,  then  you  can  judge  for  yourself. 

We  next  come  to  a  station,  called  "Clarks,"  313  miles 
from  San  Francisco.  It  is  a  beautiful  place,  with  moun 
tains  all  around  it ;  and  the  only  way  you  see  it,  is  by 
looking  up  toward  the  heavens. 

Now  we  are  at  Yista,  and  we  are  going  up-hill  again, 


78 

and  arrive  at  Truckee  meadows.  It  is  like  an  immense 
amphitheatre,  and  the  traveler  rejoices  once  more  in  see 
ing  fine  houses  and  cultivated  fields,  and  scenes  of  beauty 
spread  out  before  him. 

We  next  come  to  Reno,  where  we  leave  the  regular 
railroad  line  for  the  gold  mines  and  Virginia  Cit}^.  But 
before  saying  anything  about  this  route,  and  what  fol 
lowed,  I  wish  to  relate  to  you  something  about  letters. 

Receiving  letters,  or  "letter- day,"  as  it  is  called  there. 
(Years  ago  letters  were  received  only  by  the  steamship, 
?n'athe  Isthmus,  and,  when  steamer  day  comes,  the  whole 
population  are  in  a  state  of  excitement,  and  the  day  is 
celebrated  by  the  firing  of  guns  and  ringing  of  bells,  and 
an  immediate  rush  for  the  Post-office.  The  delivery  is 
principally  from  the  window  in  the  street,  and  a  long  line 
of  anxious  letter  seekers  is  quickly  formed,  extending  for 
a  half  mile  down  the  street.  Here  are  gathered  the  Gray 
Shirt  Brigade  of  miners  ;  many  of  them  have  not  had  a 
line  from  home  for  over  a  year;  next,  anxious  merchants, 
whose  fate  depended  upon  their  getting  their  letters  and 
invoices,  and  approaching  the  letter  office,  are  dismayed 
at  the  extreme  length  of  the  line,  with  little  hope  of  get 
ting  to  the  window  for  hours,  and  many  of  them  offer 
large  sums  of  money  for  a  chance  in  the  line  near  the 
window — for  it  takes  half  a  day  otherwise  to  get  at  the 
window — and  there  are  lots  of  idlers,  who  have  no 
friends,  and  who,  of  course,  could  not  expect  any  letters, 
that  would  from  pure  mischief  or  love  of  speculation, 
take  a  place  in  the  line.  These  men  often  make  from  $5 
to  $100  per  day  in  this  way,  until  it  gets  to  be  a  common 
remark  :  "  Selling  out  on  the  line  ;"  and  many  a  loafer 
makes  much  money  by  this  kind  of  trade.  Men  have 
been  known  to  take  their  place  in  the  line  at  least  two 
days  before  the  mail  arrived,  and  just  before  the  arrival 
of  the  steamship  would  be  obliged  to  leave  for  a  few 
mo  ments,  and  on  returning  would  be  obliged  to  take  their 
positions  at  the  foot  of  the  line.)  And  now  we  will  return 
to  our  story,  and,  as  I  said  before,  we  are  now  at  Reno , 


79 

293  miles  from  San  Francisco,  in  the  Truckee  mountains; 
and  here  we  leave  the  regular  railroad  for  Virginia  City. 
We  landed  here  on  the  18th  of  April,  and  remained  at  the 
hotel  over  night,  and  the  next  morning,  April  19th,  at  7 
o'clock,  we  took  the  train  for  the  golden  mines  and  the 
Big  Bonanza. 

We  started  on  the  crookedest  road  ever  built  by  man. 
The  whole  length  is  52  miles.  A  straight  line  across, 
from  one  end  to  the  other  is  only  19  miles,  so  you  see  it 
must  be  a  very  crooked  railroad,  and  it  was  on  this  road 
where  the  engineer  saw  one  night  a  red  light  ahead  of 
him.  Supposing  it  was  an  engine  coming  down  the 
track,  he  gave  the  alarm,  "  Down  brakes,"  reversed  the 
engine,  and  jumped  off  to  save  his  life.  And,  lo  and  be 
hold,  it  was  the  rear  end  of  his  own  train  !  I  will  not 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  story,  but  give  it  to  you  as  I 
received  it ;  but  I  am  ready  to  believe  any  stories  that 
may  be  told  me  about  this  railroad,  and  I  assure  you  it 
is  a  fact.  We  stopped  at  the  "  International  Hotel,"  a 
new  one,  only  19  days  old,  and  a  splendid  one  it  is  too.— 
It  is  built  on  a  side  hill ;  Virginia  City  is  built  also  on  a 
side  hill,  called  the  "  Big  Bonanza  ;"  the  streets  are  cut 
into  the  hill,  so  that  you  can  look  down  the  chimneys  of 
the  houses  on  the  street  below  you.  After  dinner  we 
went  down  to  the  Ophir  and  Big  Bonanza  mines.  In 
every  direction  are  mines  and  shafts  going  down  into  the 
earth  after  gold  and  silver  ;  but  the  Ophir,  and  the  Corn- 
stock  Big  Bonanza  mines  are  called  the  best  and  richest 
mines  here,  or  anywhere  else.  We  went  to  the  Ophir 
mine  (near  the  Big  Bonanza)  iirst,  and  found  Mr.  Corn- 
stock,  the  head  man  in  charge  of  both  these  mines.  We 
had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  this  gentleman,  that  satis- 
hed  him  we  were  all  right.  He  took  charge  of  us,  and 
started  for  the  shaft. 

I  asked  my  wife  and  Mrs.  Gregory  if  they  would  ac 
company  me  down  the  shaft,  but  both  said  very  posi 
tively  "no,  no!"  On  the  contrary,  my  wife  demanded 
of  me  all  the  ^money,  tickets,  watch,  and  everything 


80 

about  me  that  was  of  any  value  ;  she  then  kissed  me, 
shook  hands,  and  bid  me  good  bye — she  had  an  idea 
that  I  would  never  come  back  alive.  At  first  this  rather 
staggered  me,  yet  I  thought  I  could  go  where  other 
men  could,  so  Frank,  Mr.  C.  and  myself  went  down,  to 
see  just  what  there  was  to  be  seen  down  in  the  mines. 
Mr.  C.  took  us  to  a  room,  told  us  to  change  our  clothes 
and  put  on  miners'  suits.  We  then  stepped  on  to  the 
shaft.  A  lantern  was  handed  to  each  of  us,  and  we  took 
our  position  on  the  little  cage,  not  over  five  feet  square. 

Mr.  C.  gave  the  signal  to  the  engineer,  and  down  we 
went.  For  the  first  few  seconds  I  wished  that  I  had  re 
mained  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  but  in  a  very  short 
time  this  feeling  passed  away.  The  cage  is  a  heavy  iron 
frame,  with  grooves  on  two  sides,  which  fit  upon  wooden 
guides  running  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  mine. 
Upon  these  guides  the  cage  runs  smoothly  through  the 
whole  course  up  and  down  the  shaft,  much  the  same  as 
an  elevator  in  a  large  hotel  works. 

The  cage  may  have  a  single  floor  or  platform,  or  it  may 
have  two  or  three  floors  or  platforms,  upon  which  cars  of 
ore  or  other  materials  are  placed.  Those  with  two  floors 
or  platforms  are  called  double-deckers,  and  the  others 
three-deckers. 

Mr.  C.  placed  us,  as  I  said  before,  on  the  cage,  and 
showed  us  where  we  might  safely  grasp  its  iron  form  for 
support ;  and  as  Mr.  C.  gets  on  board,  and  we  are  all  in 
position,  he  gives  the  signal,  and  immediately  we  feel 
ourselves  dropping  into  the  depth  and  darkness  of  the 
shaft. 

Our  first  thought  was  that  between  us  and  the  bottom 
of  the  shaft,  2,000  feet  below,  was  nothing  but  the  frail 
platform  of  the  cage,  and  instinctively  we  tighten  our 
grip  upon  the  iron  bars  of  the  cage,  determined  that 
should  the  bottom  drop  out,  we  will  be  found  hanging  to 
the  upper  works  of  our  strange  vehicle. 

At  the  first  plunge  all  is  dark,  but  our  lamps  give  a 
faint  light,  enough  to  see  the  sides  of  the  shaft.  Our 


81 

view  is  very  unsatisfactory,  however,  as  all  the  timbers 
on  the  sides  of  the  compartment  appear  to  be  darting 
swiftly  upward,  just  as  trees  and  telegraph  poles  do 
when  we  are  going  40  miles  an  hour  on  a  railroad  ;  our 
speed  was  probably  not  one  half  as  fast  as  that,  but  we 
were  satisfied  not  to  go  any  faster. 

In  the  early  days  of  using  this  shaft,  on  receiving  a 
"wink"  from  the  foreman,  the  engine  would  drop  down 
so  fast  that  the  men  would  have  their  breath  almost  taken 
away  from  them,  but  at  present  Mr.  C.  allows  no  siich  dan 
gerous  fooling.  As  we  dart  down  the  shaft,  we  soon  begin 
to  pass  the  stations  of  the  first  upper  level ;  our  speed 
is  such  that  we  see  but  very  little — we  now  and  then  get 
a  glimpse  of  what  appears  to  be  a  room  of  some  size  ; 
we  see  a  few  men  standing  about  with  lanterns  in  their 
hands,  hear  voices  and  the  clank  of  machinery — an  in 
stant  after  all  is  smoothly  sailing,  and  we  see  only  the 
upward  fleeing  sides  of  the  shaft ;  then  there  is  another 
place  of  many  lights,  glimpses  of  half-nude  men,  a 
number  of  voices,  and  a  clash  of  machinery,  and  we  have 
passed  another  station — it  is  like  running  past  a  railroad 
station  in  the  night. 

When  we  had  descended  about  1,500  feet  we  began  to 
experience  quite  a  novel  sensation — that  is  the  spring  of 
the  cable.  Most  persons  have  observed  the  very  active 
bobbing  motion  of  a  toy  ball  suspended  from  an  India- 
rubber  string.  The  motion  of  our  cage,  hanging  at  the 
end  of  the  cable,  is  much  the  same.  The  less  one  has  of 
this  peculiar  motion  the  more  he  enjoys  it.  When 
this  motion  sets  in,  we  at  once  begin  to  speculate  in 
regard  to  the  probable  amount  of  stretch  to  be  found  in 
a  first  class  steel  wire  cable,  how  far  it  may  stretch  be 
fore  it  reaches  the  breaking  point.  We  are  not,  perhaps, 
over  500  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  but  we  feel 
that  we  do  not  care  to  risk  falling  even  that  short  dis 
tance. 

However,  should  the  cable  really  break,  there  would 
be  no  danger,  for  we  should  not  fall.  Attached  to  the 


82 

upper  part  of  the  cage  is  a  safety  apparatus,  designed 
especially  to  prevent  accidents  of  this  nature.  At  the 
instant  that  the  cable  parted  there  would  be  released 
powerful  spiings,  which  would  throw  out  on  each  side 
of  the  shaft  eccentric  toothed  wheels.  These  wheels, 
biting  into  the  guides  on  each  side,  would  instantly  stop 
and  hold  the  cage,  block  it  fast  in  the  shaft,  and  in  case 
of  the  cable  breaking,  we  should  not  fall  an  inch. 

As  we  pass  down  the  shaft,  an  occasional  flash  of  light, 
a  hum  of  voices,  and  a  clash  of  machinery  is  heard,  as 
described  above. 

Now  the  motion  of  the  cage  begins  to  slow,  and  a 
moment  after  we  stop  at  a  station  1,500  feet  down  below 
the  surface,  and  we  can  hardly  realize  that  we  are  so  far 
from  the  upper  world  and  daylight ;  but  we  have  no  time 
now  to  be  philosophizing  on  our  position,  for  we  are  now 
at  the  station. 

I  should  say  that  there  are  levels  every  100  feet ;  but 
this  is  a  regular  station,  and  here  is  the  place  for  letting 
off  passengers  and  taking  on  cars  that  are  going  up. 
This  station  is  a  large  apartment,'  the  walls  of  which  are 
covered  with  rough  boards,  and  the  roof  shows  heavy 
supporting  beams.  Ranged  along  the  walls  of  the  sta 
tion  are  boxes  of  candles,  coils  of  fuse  and  many  mining 
tools  and  stores  ;  here  is  also  a  large  cask  of  ice  water. 
The  ice  is  procured  from  above,  while  the  water  collects 
in  the  mine,  as  water  is  constantly  running  down  the 
sides  of  the  shaft. 

The  station  is  also  a  sort  of  lounging  place,  where  the 
men  who  happen  to  have  nothing  to  do  for  a  few  moments 
stop  to  hear  the  news  from  the  surface  ;  there  is  more 
chat  and  sociability  here  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the 
mine. 

The  reports  of  the  stocks  of  the  mines  in  San  Fran 
cisco  are  sent  to  the  miner  at  once,  and  about  the  time 
the  report  arrives,  you  will  hear  the  men  at  the  station 
anxiously  inquiring  the  price  of  stocks  of  the  first  man 
who  comes  down  from  the  surface.  His  report  quickly 


83 

passes  through  the  mine,  and  very  soon  600  or  700  men, 
far  beneath  the  surface,  know  as  much  about  the  stocks 
of  the  mine  as  those  who  walk  on  the  surface  above. 

Almost  every  miner  owns  some  share  in  the  mines,  and 
there  are  men  far  down  in  the  earth  worth  $40.000  or 
$50,000.  and  some  of  them  worth  much  more.  While  at 
work  they  receive  $4  per  day,  regularly,  and  they  can 
speculate  just  as  well  as  if  they  were  on  the  streets 
watching  the  stock  reports. 

As  I  look,  I  see  numerous  avenues  branching  out  from 
the  station,  like  the  ribs  of  a  Chinese  fan.  Mr.  C.  took 
us  through  one  of  these,  the  longest,  about  three  miles 
long.  A  car  track  is  laid,  and  every  few  moments  we 
were  obliged  to  step  on  one  side  to  let  a  mule  pass,  draw 
ing  one  of  the  cars  of  ore  to  the  station.  These  cars  hold 
about  1,800  pounds  of  ore.  Sometimes  the  cars  are  at 
tended  by  men  only,  the  mules  being  dispensed  with. 

In  a  few  moments  we  find  it  is  very  warm,  perspiration 
oozing  from  every  pore,  the  sweat  running  in  our  boots. 
The  miners  are  dressed  very  nearly  after  Adam  and  Eve's 
fashion,  nothing  on  but  a  clout,  or  the  waist  of  an  old 
pair  of  pantaloons  about  their  middle,  a  pair  of  shoes, 
and  a  hat — the  hat  to  keep  the  fine  particles  of  dust  from 
the  head,  the  clout  to  cover  their  middles,  and  the  shoes 
to  keep  their  feet  from  cutting  on  the  sharp  stones. 

After  seeing  all  there  was  to  be  seen,  we  retraced  our 
steps  to  the  station,  and  there  we  took  a  big  iron  box, 
called  the  "giraffe/5  and  went  down  an  inclined  plane. 
This  giraffe  will  hold  18  tons  of  ore.  This  inclined  plane 
is  over  600  feet  long ;  and  as  we  all  tumbled  into  this 
iron  box,  the  conductor  gave  the  signal,  and  down  we 
went.  A  strange  feeling  came  over  me  at  that  time.  The 
hole,  or  shaft,  as  it  is  called  here,  is  not  over  six  feet 
square,  and  on  every  side  could  be  seen  heavy  timbers 
bracing  up  the  ore  and  dirt  from  falling  upon  us  ;  arid  as 
we  got  to  the  foot  of  this  inclination,  we  find  men  nearly 
nude,  and  the  perspiration  running  off  them  as  if  they 
had  just  come  out  of  a  river,  shoveling  ore  into  another 


84 

giraffe,  and  at  the  same  time  heavy  square  pieces  of  tim 
ber  are  constantly  being  put  up  on  the  four  sides,  firmly 
held  together.  These  were  put  up  to  keep  the  earth  and 
ore  from  caving  in  upon  us. 

Way  down  there  it  is  very  hot,  hotter  than  any  place  I 
was  ever  in  before  ;  but  we  did  not  seem  to  mind  it  at  all. 
After  seeing  the  sights,  we  tumbled  into  the  giraffe  again, 
ready  to  go — the  conductor  gave  the  signal— we  were 
going  up  this  time.  Careful  not  to  hit  our  heads  against 
the  beams,  we  lay  down  in  the  iron  box  on  the  top  of  the 
gold  ore  and  dirt. 

At  the  station  we  got  out,  took  another  good  drink  of 
ice  water,  and  were  ready  to  go  up  higher.  Very  soon 
we  stepped  aboard  one  of  the  cages,  placed  ourselves  in 
position,  the  signal  was  given,  and  in  a  very  short  time> 
we  once  more  stood  in  the  cold  air  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth. 

We  found  our  friends  waiting  for  us,  and  they  appeared 
glad  to  again  see  us  safe  and  sound  ;  they  acted  as  if  we 
had  just  appeared  from  our  graves.  We  shook  hands 
with  them,  and  then  ran  into  a  room  prepared  for  us  by 
Mr.  C.  It  was  a  large  bath  room,  with  all  the  necessary 
accompaniments,  hot  and  cold  water,  towels,  and  so  forth. 
Immediately  I  was  into  it,  taking  a  refreshing  bath,  and 
I  think  I  never  took  one  that  did  me  more  good  than  that 
one  did.  I  should  have  mentioned  that  the  bath  man, 
who  has  charge  of  the  costumes  for  going  down  into  the 
mines,  had  considerable  trouble  in  finding  me  a  costume 
large  enough.  He  finally  hunted  up  Mr.  Flood' s — the  rich 
man's  costume — who  is  a  large  man.  When  dressed,  I 
surveyed  myself  in  a  glass  on  the  wall,  but  could  get  up 
no  enthusiasm,  though  in  wearing  the  clothes  of  a  mil 
lionaire  I  thought  I  ought  to  have  some  feeling  about  it, 
but  I  would  not  scare  worth  a  cent,  and  the  feeling  would 
not  come.  This  Mr.  Flood  is  worth  over  $80, 000, 000  ;  and 
instead  of  being  elated  in  my  position,  I  felt  as  if  it  was 
old  Boyer  dressed  in  some  body's  else  clothes.  After 
taking  a  good  look  at  myself  I  came  out,  and  walked  up 


85 

to  my  wife  and  introduced  myself  as  a  man  worth  $80,- 
000,000 ;  but  she  would  not  scare  either— she  thought  the 
jackass  had  put  on  the  lion's  skin  only  ;  and  as  I  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  she  was  right,  I  demanded  of  her 
my  trinkets.  This  extorted  quite  a  laugh  among  the  lit 
tle  crowd  around  us.  Just  then  Mr.  C.  came  to  me,  and 
said  that  we  had  not  got  through  yet.  We  stepped  into 
another  room,  and,  lo  and  behold,  there  were  all  kinds 
of  liquors  to  drink,  for  the  stomach's  sake,  as  he  said, 
for  it  was  a  wet,  nasty  day  outside,  and  not  being  used 
to  it  I  might  catch  cold.  I  tell  you  I  never  came  so  near 
drinking  as  I  did  that  day.  But,  Brothers,  no  !  True  to 
my  calling,  in  a  very  polite  manner,  I  refused,  and  told 
Mr.  C.  that  I  would  take  the  chances  on  catching  cold, 
and  the  matter  was  dropped.  After  dressing,  Mr.  C.  took 
us  into  another  room  and  showed  us  all  the  kinds  of  ore, 
and  also  gave  me  a  number  of  specimens  of  ore  from 
other  mines.  I  should  have  said  that,  when  down  in  the 
mines,  I  shoveled  up  some  ore  into  the  giraffe,  and  also 
put  in  my  pocket  a  few  pieces,  and  brought  them  home 
for  my  friends  to  look  at.  Mr.  C.  said  they  came  from  a 
mine  worth  $10,000  a  ton  when  smelted.  While  shoveling 
up  the  precious  metals,  it  seemed  to  me  like  common 
dirt ;  I  was  not  overwhelmed  a  bit  at  the  great  work  I 
was  performing. 

After  this  Mr.  C.  took  us  into  the  inner  office  of  the 
rich  men  across  the  street,  where  only  those  are  allowed 
who  have  some  extra  business  to  attend  to  with  the  head 
men.  The  reason  why  I  was  allowed  there,  was  this : 
I  had  shown  Mr.  C.  my  medal ;  he  thought  it  something 
wonderful — he  was  not  an  Odd  Fellow,  but  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity.  Well.  I  could  see  him  there, 
too ;  but  he  was  so  taken  up  with  my  medal,  that  he 
wanted  me  to  show  it  to  the  richest  man  in  the  West,  who 
was  a  thorough  working  Odd  Fellow.  With  the  rest  of 
my  family  we  called  over  to  this  office.  We  were  ushered 
into  a  room  ;  I  wish  I  could  give  a  description  of  it ;  but 
let  me  say  it  was  all  that  money  could  make  it  or  art 


86 

suggest.  We  waited  a  little  for  the  head  man  ;  soon  he 
came,  and  I  was  introduced  to  him — Mr.  John  Mackay 
by  name,  a  Scotchman,  one  of  the  original  owners  of  the 
Big  Bonanza.  He  formerly  kept  a  common  rum-hole  in 
San  Francisco,  where  he  located  in  1849,  a  very  poor  man, 
and  to-day  lie  is  worth  over  $80,000,000.  He  looked  at  my 
medal,  and  then  looked  at  me.  What  he  thought  I  don't 
know,  but  what  he  said  I  recollect  well  enough,  some 
thing  like  this  :  "That  is  a  very  nice  medal  you  have, 
and  I  presume  you  appreciate  it  as  such."  I  found  he 
was  able  to  talk  on  Odd  Fellowship,  and  we  had  quite  a 
chat  on  that  subject. 

I  will  mention  just  here  that  there  were  four  men  who 
originally  owned  the  Big  Bonanza,  and  had  I  the  time  to 
write  and  you  the  patience  to  hear  me,  I  think  it  would 
prove  a  very  interesting  story  to  tell  you  all  about  these 
four  men  in  the  early  days  of  this  mine,  years  ago  ;  but 
to-day  they  are  worth  many,  many  millions  of  dollars. 
Their  names  are  Mackay,  Fair,  Flood,  and  O'Brien. 
Their  united  yearly  income  is  over  $20,000,000. 

I  wish  to  say  a  word  about  the  production  of  the  Big 
Bonanza.  For  more  than  a  year  it  has  yielded  over 
$1,800,000  a  month,  and  there  is  no  sign  of  exhaustion 
yet.  In  1875,  and  four  months  of  1876,  this  mine  yielded 
over  $25,000,000.  In  the  month  of  March,  1876,  they 
took  out  over  $4,000,000  in  bullion  ;  and  much  more  could 
be  said  about  this  wonderful  mine,  but  I  will  defer  it  to 
some  other  time. 

We  shook  hands  with  our  new  friends,  and  then  started 
for  the  hotel,  had  our  dinner,  and  got  ready  to  start  for 
Reno.  Three  o'clock  came,  Mrs.  Gregory,  my  wife  and 
myself  started  down  the  hill  for  the  depot,  two  blocks 
away,  we  got  on  board — the  time  came  for  our  de 
parture,  but  no  Frank  could  be  found.  I  spoke  to 
the  conductor,  and  told  him  how  I  was  fixed.  He 
waited  five  minutes  to  give  me  time  to  send  up  to 
to  the  Hotel  and  hunt  up  "that  boy;"  but  no  tid 
ings  of  him  could  be  had.  The  train  started,  and  upon 


87 

getting  to  the  foot  of  the  street  leading  up  to  the  hotel, 
I  looked  up,  and  there  was  Prank  coming  down  full 
split  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  mud  flying,  and  the  boy 
too.  I  asked  the  brakeman  to  stop  the  train,  and  he  re 
plied  that  he  dared  not  do  it ;  I  wanted  to  know  the 
reason  why  \  his  answer  was  that  the  train  was  going 
down  a  steep  grade,  and  the  cars  could  not  stop  ;  I  re 
plied  that  I  would  do  it  myself,  and  I  did  it.  I  never  in 
all  my  life  pulled  a  rope  as  I  did  then,  and  in  a  few  min 
utes  the  cars  stopped— I  ran  back  to  the  rear  end  of  the 
train  ;  Frank  had  got  there  by  that  time,  but  was  too 
weak  to  get  on  board.  I  pulled  him  up  on  the  platform, 
and  we  entered  the  car,  when  the  conductor  came  rushing 
back  and  wanted  to  know  who  dared  to  stop  the  train  ;  I 
owned  right  up,  and  pointed  to  Frank — he  was  the  cause 
of  it,  I  said,  and  I  wanted  to  know  if  I  could  give  a  bet 
ter  answer  than  the  one  before  him  ;  said  I,  just  look  at 
him,  mud  from  head  to  foot,  and  looking  more  like  a 
drowned  rat  than  any  thing  else— and,  said  I,  why  don't 
you  go  on  now  I  what  are  you  waiting  for  ?  And  I  was 
upon  the  point  of  pulling  the  bell-rope,  to  start  the  train 
again,  when  the  conductor  saw  my  movement,  and  pulled 
the  rope  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  I  heard  him  mutter 
ing  something  about  somebody  having  more  brass  than, 
&c.,  &c.,  &c.,  but  I  didn't  care.  Once  more  we  were  go 
ing  down  this  steep  grade  and  around  sharp  curves,  and 
finally  got  down  to  the  valley  all  right,  and  arrived  at 
Reno  safe  and  sound,  at  9  P.  M.,  April  the  19th,  ready 
to  start  westward  once  more. 


88 


LEOTUEE  NO.  4. 


But,  before  resuming  the  account  of  our  trip,  I  want 
to  tell  you  about  flumes. 

THE  GREAT  NEVADA  FLUME. 

A   PERILOUS  RIDE. 

A  fifteen  mile  ride  in  a  flume  down  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains,  in  35  minutes,  was  not  one  of  the  things  con 
templated  on  my  visit  to  Virginia  City,  and  it  is  entirely 
within  reason  to  say  that  I  shall  never  make  the  trip 
again. 

The  flume  cost,  with  its  appurtenances,  between  $200,- 
000  and  $300,000.  It  was  built  by  a  company  interested 
in  the  mines  here,  principally  owners  of  the  Consolidated 
Virginia,  California,  Hale  &  Norcross,  Gould  &  Curry, 
Best  &  Belcher,  and  Utah  mines.  The  largest  stock 
holders  are  J.  C.  Flood,  James  G.  Fair,  John  Mackay, 
and  \V.  S.  O'Brien,  the  wealthiest  firm  in  the  United 
States. 

The  mines  named  use  1,000, 000  feet  of  lumber  per  month, 
underground,  and  burn  40,000  cords  of  wood  per  year. 
Wood  here  is  worth  from  $10  to  $12  per  cord,  and  at 
market  prices,  Messrs.  Flood  &  Co.  would  have  to  pay, 
for  wood  alone,  nearly  $500,000  per  year. 

Virginia  City  is  not  built  in  a  forest.  From  the  top  of 
Mount  Davidson,  which  is  half  a  mile  back  from  the 
city,  there  is  not  a  tree  in  sight,  except  a  few  shade  trees 
in  the  city. 

Going  into  the  mines,  the  other  day,  and  seeing  the 
immense  amount  of  timber  used,  I  asked  Mr.  Mackay 
where  all  the  wood  and  timber  came  from  ;  "  It  comes," 
said  he,  "from  our  lands  in  the  Sierras,  forty  or  fifty 


89 

miles  from  here  ;  we  own  over  12,000  acres  in  the  vicinity 
of  Washoe  Lake,  all  of  which  is  heavily  timbered." 

"  How  do  you  get  it  here  ?"  I  asked. 

"  It  comes,"  said  he,  "  in  our  flume  down  the  moun 
tains,  15  miles,  and  from  our  dumping  grounds  is  brought 
by  the  Virginia  and  Truckee  Railroad  to  this  city,  sixteen 
miles.  You  ought  to  see  this  flume  before  you  go  back, 
it  is  really  a  wonderful  thing." 

The  Journey. — When,  therefore,  two  days  afterward, 
I  was  invited  to  accompany  Mr.  Flood  and  Mr.  Fair  to 
the  head  of  the  flume,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  their 
kind  offer.  We  started  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
in  two  buggies  ;  the  two  gentlemen  named  in  one  buggy, 
and  Mr.  Hereford,  the  President  and  Superintendent  of 
the  Company  (which  is  known  as  the  Pacific  Wood, 
Lumber  and  Flume  Company),  and  myself  in  the  other. 

The  drive  through  the  Washoe  Valley,  and  along  the 
mountains,  up  and  down  for  16  miles,  over  a  road  which, 
for  picturesqueness,  is  without  an  equal  in  memory,  can 
not  be  described.  Not  a  tree,  nor  bush,  nor  any  green  ve 
getation  was  in  sight  ;  hills  and  mountains,  well-defined 
and  separate  in  character,  were  in  every  direction.  Sage 
brush  and  jack  rabbits  were  the  only  living  things  in 
sight.  That  beautiful  purple  atmosphere,  or  mist,  which 
has  a  dreamy,  sleepy  effect  in  the  landscape,  overspread 
the  mountains,  and  extended  through  the  valley. 

The  road  we  traversed  swung  round  and  round  the 
mountains,  now  going  nearly  to  the  summit,  and  now 
descending  to  their  base. 

Both  teams  employed  were  of  the  best,  and  in  less  than 
an  hour  and  a  half  we  had  accomplished  the  first  part 
of  our  journey,  16  miles.  Here  we  breakfasted,  and 
went  to  the  end  of  the  flume,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant. 
The  men  were  running  timber,  16  inches  square  and  ten 
feet  long,  through  it.  The  tressle  work,  upon  which  the 
flume  rested,  was  about  '20  feet  from  the  ground.  The 
velocity  of  the  movement  of  the  timber  could  scarcely 
be  credited,  for  it  requires  from  only  twenty-five  minutes 


90 

to  half  an  hour  for  it  to  float  the  entire  length  of  the 
flume,  15  miles. 

The  flume  is  shaped  like  the  letter  V,  and  is  made  of 
10-inch  plank  nailed  together  in  the  above  shape.  Across 
the  top  it  is  about  two  and  one-half  feet  in  width.  The 
ends  are  very  carefully  fitted  so  that  where  the  planks 
go  together  there  may  be  no  uneveness,  for  timbers  going 
at  the  rate  of  15  to  60  miles  per  hour  must  have  a  clear 
coast.  In  this  trough  the  water  runs  from  Hunter's 
Creek,  which  is  situated  about  twenty  miles  from  the 
terminus  of  the  flume.  Some  idea  of  the  swiftness  with 
which  the  timber  runs  through  the  flume  may  be  had 
when  it  is  stated  that  in  the  flume  there  floats  500,000  f<»t»t 
of  lumber  every  day  (about  10  hours),  or  f>0(.)  cords  of 
wood.  Near  the  terminus  an  iron  break  is  placed  in  the 
trough,  slanting  toward  one  side,  so  that  when  the  timber 
comes  rushing  down,  50  or  !<>o  pieces,  one  after  the 
other,  each  piece  is  turned  toward  the  side  and  the  men 
at  the  break,  with  a  dexterous  use  of  the  crowbar,  send 
them  bounding  to  the  ground.  I  climbed  to  the  top  of 
the  tressle  work  before  the  timber  began  to  come.  It 
was  like  the  rushing  of  a  herd  of  buffalo,  or  a  party  of 
hunters,  and  I  preferred  to  view  the  flume  in  active  work 
ing  from  a  safe  distance. 

We  changed  teams  upon  resuming  our  journey,  taking 
fresh  horses  for  the  mountain  ascent.  Horsemen  in  the 
East,  who  have  never  seen  the  mountains  of  Nevada, 
Colorado  and  California,  can  have  no  idea  of  the  amount 
of  work  a  horse  can  do  and  of  the  difficult  places 
through  which  he  will  go  and  of  the  load  he  will  carry  or 
draw.  How  a  pair  of  horses  can  pull  a  buggy  and  two 
men  up  a  grade  that  seems  half-way  between  the  hori 
zontal  and  perpendicular,  over  stones  and  fallen  trees, 
and  through  underbrush  six  feet  high  and  very  thick> 
is  a  question  I  can  never  hope  to  solve ;  at  any  rate,  we 
reached  the  lower  mill  of  the  Company,  about  18  or  20 
miles.  This  was  several  hours  before  noon.  The  mill  is 
situated  in  the  lower  belt  of  timber,  and  there  are  be- 


91 

tween  400  and  500  men  at  work.  This  number  includes 
those  engaged  in  cutting  trees,  hauling  logs  and  sawing 
the  lumber.  How  the  heavy  machinery  of  the  mills,  and 
the  engines  that  work  them,  were  brought  from  the  city 
up  the  mountains  and  placed  in  position,  is  another 
mystery  which  I  have  not  tried  to  investigate. 

The  amount  of  lumber  turned  out  by  the  owner  of 
these  mills,  the  upper  and  the  lower,  the  former  being 
two  and  a  half  miles  farther  up  the  mountain,  is  marvel 
lous.  In  live  minutes'  time,  a  log  from  two  to  four  feet 
in  diameter,  is  reduced  to  lumber,  planks,  scantling, 
boards  and  square  timber,  perhaps  all  from  the  same  log, 
for  it  is  cut  in  the  most  advantageous  manner.  Some 
times  one  log  will  give  three  or  four  kinds  of  lumber. 
The  lower  mill  is  kept  running  night  and  day,  and  has 
a  capacity  of  50,000  feet  per  day  of  small  stuff,  and  of 
70,000  feet  when  working  on  large  timber.  The  upper 
mill  has  less  than  half  the  capacity,  being  smaller,  and 
being  worked  only  12  hours  a  day. 

The  Flume. — The  flume  is  a  wonderful  piece  of  en 
gineering  work.  It  is  built  wholly  upon  tressle  work 
and  stringers:  there  is  not  a  cut  in  the  whole  distance, 
and  the  grade  is  so  heavy  there  is  little  danger  of  a  jam. 
The  tressle  work  is  very  substantial,  and  is  undoubtedly 
strong  enough  to  support  a  narrow  gauge  railway.  It 
runs  over  foot-hills,  through  valleys,  around  mountains, 
and  across  cailons.  In  one  place  it  is  70  feet  high.  The 
highest  point  of  the  flume  from  the  plain  is  3,700  feet, 
and  on  an  air  line,  from  beginning  to  end,  the  distance 
is  eight  miles,  the  course  thus  taking  up  7  miles  in 
twists  and  turns;  the  tressle  work  is  thoroughly  braced, 
longitudinally  across,  so  that  no  break  can  extend 
further  than  a  single  box,  which  is  16  feet;  all  the  main 
supports,  which  are  five  feet  apart,  are  firmly  set  in 
mud-  sills,  and  the  boxes  or  troughs  rest  in  brackets  four 
feet  apart;  these  again  rest  upon  substantial  stringers. 
The  grade  of  the  flume  is  between  1,600  and  ^,000  feet 
from  the  top  to  the  lower  end,  a  distance  of  15  miles. 


92 

The  sharpest  fall  is  three  feet  in  six.  There  are  two 
reservoirs  from  which  the  flume  is  fed.  One  is  1,600  feet 
long  and  the  other  600  feet;  a  ditch  nearly  two  miles 
long  takes  the  water  to  the  first  reservoir,  whence  it  is 
conveyed  3J  miles  to  the  finme  through  a  feeder  capable 
of  carrying  45o  inches  of  water.  The  whole  flume  was 
built  in  ten  weeks.  In  that  time  all  the  tressle  work, 
stringers  and  boxes  were  put  in  place.  About  200  men 
were  employed  on  it  at  one  time,  being  divided  into  four 
gangs.  It  required  2,000,000  feet  of  lumber,  but  the  item 
which  astonished  me  most  was  that  there  were  28  tons, 
or  56,000  pounds,  of  nails  used  in  the  construction  of 
this  flume. 

To  the  lower  mill,  as  the  road  goes,  it  is  about  40  miles 
to  Virginia  City.  Although  I  had  already  ridden  this 
distance,  yet  I  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  two  or  three 
miles  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  where  I  had  one  of  the 
finest  valley  views  that  comes  to  the  lot  of  man.  Miles 
and  miles  below  the  valley  was  spread  out,  with  spots 
and  squares  of  green  crops  growing,  and  barren  wastes  of 
sand  and  sage-brush,  reaching  in  a  long  stretch  to  the 
base  of  another  spur  of  the  Sierras. 

The  city  of  Reno  occupied  a  little  spot  on  the  plain. 
From  my  mountain  it  seemed  like  a  city  of  toy  houses 
built  on  nature's  carpet. 

A  Ride  in  the  Flume. — Upon  my  return  I  found  that 
Mr.  Flood  and  Mr.  Fair  had  arranged  for  a  ride  in  the 
flume,  and  I  was  challenged  to  go  with  them.  Indeed, 
the  proposition  was  put  in  the  form  of  a  challege— they 
dared  me  to  go.  I  thought  that  if  men  worth  $25,000,000 
or  $30, 000, 000  apiece  could  afford  to  risk  their  lives,  I  could 
afford  to  risk  mine,  which  was  not  worth  half  so  much. 
So  I  accepted  the  challenge,  and  two  boats  were  ordered. 
These  were  nothing  more  than  pig  troughs  with  one  end 
knocked  out.  The  "boat"  is  built,  like  the  flume,  V 
shaped,  and  fits  into  the  flume.  It  is  composed  of  three 
pieces  of  wood,  two  two-inch  planks  16  feet  long,  and  an 
end  board,  which  is  nailed  about  2£  feet  across  the  top. 


93 

The  forward  end  of  the  boat  was  left  open,  the  rear  end 
left  closed  with  a  board,  against  which  was  to  come  the 
current  of  water  to  propel  us.  Two  narrow  boards  were 
placed  in  the  boat  for  seats,  and  everything  was  made 
ready.  Mr.  Fair  and  myself  were  to  go  in  the  first  boat, 
and  Mr.  Flood  and  Mr.  Hereford  in  the  other. 

Mr.  Fair  thought  we  had  better  take  a  third  man  with 
us  who  knew  something  about  the  flume.  There  were 
probably  50  men  from  the  mill  standing  waiting  to  see  us 
off,  and  when  it  was  proposed  to  take  a  third  man,  the 
question  was  asked  of  them  if  anybody  was  willing  to  go. 
Only  one  man,  a  red-faced  carpenter,  who  takes  more 
kindly  to  whisky  than  his  bench,  volunteered  to  go. 

Finally,  everything  was  arranged.  Two  or  three  stout 
men  held  the  boat  over  the  flume  and  told  us  to  jump 
into  it  the  minute  it  touched  the  water,  and  to  "  Jiang  on 
to  our  liats" 

The  signal  of  "  all  ready '"  was  given,  the  boat  was 
launched,  and  we  jumped  into  it  as  best  we  could,  which 
was  not  very  well,  and  away  we  went  like  the  wind.  One 
man  who  helped  to  launch  the  boat  fell  into  it  just  as  the 
water  struck  it,  but  he  scampered  out  on  the  tressle,  and 
whether  he  was  hurt  or  not  we  could  not  wait  to  see. 
The  grade  of  the  flume  at  the  mill  is  very  heavy,  and  the 
water  rushes  through  it  at  railroad  speed. 

The  terrors  of  that  ride  can  never  be  blotted  from  the 
memory  of  one  of  that  party.  To  ride  upon  the  cow 
catcher  of  an  engine  down  a  steep  grade  is  simply  ex 
hilarating,  for  you  know  there  is  a  wide  track,  regularly 
laid  upon  a  firm  foundation;  that  there  are  wheels 
grooved  and  fitted  to  the  track;  that  there  are  trusty  men 
at  the  brakes,  and,  better  than  all,  you  know  that  the 
power  that  impels  the  train  can  be  rendered  powerless 
in  an  instant  by  the  driver' s  light  touch  upon  his  lever. 
But  a  flume  has  no  element  of  safety.  In  the  first  place, 
the  grade  cannot  be  regulated  as  it  can  upon  a  railroad; 
you  cannot  go  fast  or  slow  at  pleasure;  you  are  wholly 
at  the  mercy  of  the  water;  you  cannot  stop,  you  cannot 


94 

lessen  your  speed;  you  have  nothing  to  hold  to;  you  have 
only  to  sit  still,  shut  your  eyes,  say  your  prayers,  take 
all  the  water  that  comes — filling  your  boat,  wetting  your 
feet,  drenching  you  like  a  plunge  through  the  surf — and 
wait  for  eternity.  It  is  all  there  is  to  hope  for  after  you 
are  launched  in  a  flume  boat.  I  cannot  give  the  reader 
a  better  idea  of  a  flume  ride  than  to  compare  it  to  riding 
down  an  old-fashioned  eave  trough  at  an  angle  of  45  de 
grees,  hanging  in  mid-air  without  support  of  roof  or 
house,  and  thus  shot  a  distance  of  15  miles.  At  the  start 
we  went  at  the  rate  of  20  miles  an  hour,  which  is  a  little 
less  than  the  average  speed  of  a  railroad  train.  The 
reader  can  have  no  idea  of  the  speed  we  made  till  he 
compares  it  to  a  railroad.  The  average  time  we  made 
was  30  miles  an  hour,  a  mile  in  two  minutes,  for  the  entire 
distance.  This  is  greater  than  the  average  running  time 
of  railroads. 

Incidents  of  the  Ride. — The  red  faced  carpenter  sat  in 
front  of  our  boat,  on  the  bottom,  as  best  he  could.  Mr. 
Fair  sat  on  a  seat  behind  him,  and  I  sat  behind  Mr. 
Fair  in  the  stern,  and  was  of  great  service  to  him  ' in 
keeping  the  water,  which  broke  over  the  end-board, 
from  his  back. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  water  also,  shipped  in  the 
bows  of  the  hog-trough,  and  I  know  Mr.  Fair's  broad 
shoulders  kept  me  from  many  a  wetting  in  that  memor 
able  trip. 

At  the  heaviest  grade  the  water  came  in  so  furiously 
in  front,  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  where  we  were 
going,  or  what  was  ahead  of  us  ;  but  when  the  grade 
was  light,  and  we  were  going  at  a  four-minute  pace,  the 
vision  was  very  delightful,  although  it  was  terrible. 

In  this  ride,  which  fails  me  to  describe,  I  was  perched 
up  in  a  boat  no  wider  than  a  chair,  sometimes  twenty 
feet  high  in  the  air,  and  with  the  ever  varying  altitude  of 
the  flume  often  seventy  feet  high.  When  the  water 
would  enable  me  to  look  ahead  I  would  see  this  trestle 
here  and  there  for  miles,  so  small  and  narrow,  and  appa- 


95 

rently  so  fragile,  that  I  could  only  compare  it  to  a  chalk 
mark,  upon  which,  high  in  the  air,  I  was  running  at  a  rate 
unknown  upon  railroads. 

One  circumstance  during  the  trip  did  more  to  show  me 
the  terrible  rapidity  with  which  we  dashed  through  the 
flume,  than  anything  else.  We  had  been  rushing  down 
at  a  pretty  lively  rate  of  speed  when  the  boat  suddenly 
struck  something  in  the  bow — a  nail,  or  lodged  stick  of 
wood— which  ought  not  to  have  been  there.  What  was  the 
result '(  The  red  faced  carpenter  was  sent  whirling  into 
the  flume,  ten  feet  ahead.  Fair  was  precipitated  on  his 
face,  and  I  found  a  soft  lodgment  on  Fair's  back. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  in  a  second's  time,  Fair,  himself 
a  powerful  man,  had  the  carpenter  by  the  scruff  of  the 
neck  and  had  pulled  him  into  the  boat.  I  did  not  know 
that,  at  this  time,  Fair  had  his  fingers  crushed  between 
the  boat  and  the  flume. 

But  we  sped  along ;  minutes  seemed  hours.  It 
seemed  an  hour  before  we  arrived  at  the  worst  place  in 
the  flume,  and  yet  Hereford  tells  me  it  was  less  than  ten 
minutes.  The  flume,  at  the  point  alluded  to,  must  have 
very  near  45  degrees  inclination.  In  looking  out  before 
we  reached  it,  I  thought  the  only  way  to  get  to  bottom 
was  to  fall.  How  our  boat  kept  in  the  track  is  more 
than  I  know.  The  wind,  the  steamboat,  the  railroad, 
never  went  so  fast.  I  have  been  where  the  wind  blew  at 
the  rate  of  eighty  miles  an  hour,  and  yet  my  breath  was 
not  taken  away.  In  the  flume,  in  the  bad  places,  it 
seemed  as  if  I  would  suffocate.  The  first  bad  place  that 
we  reached,  and  if  I  remember  right,  it  was  the  worst,  I 
got  close  to  Fair.  I  did  not  know  that  I  would  survive 
the  journey,  but  I  wanted  to  see  how  fast  we  were  going. 
So  I  lay  close  to  him  and  placed  my  head  between  his 
shoulders.  The  waters  were  coming  into  his  face  like 
the  breakers  of  the  ocean.  When  we  went  slow  the 
breakers  came  in  on  my  back,  but  when  the  heavy 
grades  were  reached,  the  breakers  were  in  front.  In 
one  case  Fair  shielded  me,  and  in  the  other  I  shielded 
Fair. 


96 

In  this  particularly  bad  place  I  allude  to,  my  desire  was 
to  form  some  judgment  of  the  speed  we  were  making. 
If  the  truth  must  be  spoken,  I  was  almost  scared  out  of 
reason  ;  but  if  I  was  on  the  way  to  eternity,  I  wanted  to 
know  how  fast  I  went ;  so  I  huddled  close  to  Fair  and 
turned  my  eyes  towards  the  hills.  Every  object  I  placed 
my  eyes  on  was  gone,  before  I  could  clearly  see  what  it 
was.  Mountains  passed  like  visions  and  shadows.  It 
was  with  difficulty  that  I  could  get  my  breath.  I  felt 
that  I  did  not  weigh  one  hundred  pounds,  although  I 
knew  in  the  sharpness  of  intellect  which  one  has  at  such 
a  moment,  that  the  scales  turned  at  two  hundred. 

Mr.  Flood  and  Mr.  Hereford,  although  they  started  sev 
eral  minutes  later  than  we  did,  were  close  upon  us.  They 
were  not  so  heavily  loaded,  and  they  had  the  full  sweep 
of  the  water,  while  we  had  it  rather  at  second-hand. 
Their  boat  finally  struck  ours  with  a  terrible  crash. 

Mr.  Flood  was  thrown  upon  his  face,  and  the  waters 
flowed  over  him,  leaving  not  a  dry  thread  upon  him. 
What  became  of  Hereford  I  do  not  kn<  >w,  except  that 
when  he  reached  the  terminus  of  the  flume  he  was  as  wet 
as  any  of  us. 

This  only  remains  to  be  said,  we  made  the  entire  dis 
tance  in  less  time  than  a  railroad  train  would  ordinarily 
make,  and  a  portion  of  the  time  we  went  faster  than  a 
railroad  train  ever  went.  Fair  said  that  we  went  at  least 
a  mile  a  minute.  Flood  said  we  went  at  the  rate  of  100 
miles  and  hour,  and  my  deliberate  belief  is  that  we  went 
at  a  rate  that  annihilated  time  and  space.  We  were  a 
wet  lot  when  we  reached  the  terminus  of  the  flume. 
Flood  said  he  would  not  make  the  trip  again  for  the 
whole  Consolidated  Virginia  Mines.  Fair  said  that  he 
should  never  again  place  himself  on  an  equality  with  tim 
ber  and  wood,  and  Hereford  said  he  was  sorry  that  he 
ever  built  the  flume.  As  for  myself,  I  told  the  million 
aire  that  I  had  accepted  my  last  challenge.  When  we 
left  our  boats  we  were  more  dead  than  alive.  We  had 
yet  16  miles  to  drive  to  Virginia  City.  How  we  reached 


97 

home  the  reader  will  never  know.  Tasked  Flood  what  I 
was  to  do  with  my  spoiled  English  clothes.  He  bade  me 
{food-nigJtt*  with  the  remark  that  my  clothes  were  good 
enough  to  give  away.  The  next  day,  neither  Flood  nor" 
Fair  were  able  to  leave  tlieir  beds.  For  myself,  I  had 
only  strength  enough  left  to  say,  "/  have  had  enough 
of  Flumes." 

We  will  now  resume  our  journey  from  Reno  westward, 
and  we  do  not  stop  again  until  our  arrival  at  Sacramento, 
139  miles  from  Sari  Francisco,  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  of  the  20th  of  April. 

The  population  of  this  city  is  about  20,000,  and  it  is 
the  capital  of  the  State  of  California.  Many  objects  of 
great  interest  might  be  mentioned  about  this  city,  but 
we  must  be  excused,  and  hurry  on  to  San  Francisco. 
After  breakfast  we  started  and  took  the  cars  to  Yalle^o, 
where  we  made  connection  with  the  steamboat  running 
down  the  Sacramento  bay  into  the  great  bay  of  San 
Francisco,  where  we  arrived  at  the  end  of  our  journey, 
at  10  o'clock  A.  M.  We  took  a  carriage  for  the  largest 
hotel  in  the  world — so  said  to  be  by  those  who  claim  to 
know — called  the  Palace  Hotel ;  only  seven  stories  high, 
has  five  elevators  in  it,  a  large  court,  where  you  drive 
right  inside  ;  but  no  business  is  done  on  the  sidewalk 
outside  of  the  building.  This  property  was  built  by  or 
for  Mr.  Ralston,  who  committed  suicide.  The  building 
was  then  turned  over  to  Senator  Sharon.  The  original 
cost  of  this  great  structure  was  $7,000,000,  bought  in  for 
less  than  one  quarter  of  this  sum  by  Senator  Sharon. 

It  is  now  run  by  Warren  Leland,  one  of  the  Leland 
Brothers  of  New  York.  I  have  a  number  of  photographs 
of  this  great  building.  In  the  evening  I  attended  a 
Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows,  at  Odd  Fellows'  Hall  ;  not  know 
ing  one  from  the  other,  I  strolled  into  the  first  one  I  came 
to ;  it  turned  out  to  be  a  French  Lodge.  I  was  intro 
duced,  through  my  card.  I  found  P.  GK  Preston,  of  At 
lantic  Lodge,  there,  ahead  of  me  ;  for  he  started  a  week 
before  I  did  from  New  York.  We  did  not  stay  long  at 


the  French  Lodge,  although  while  there  I  became  ac 
quainted  with  P.  G.  Day5  s  nephew,  who  went  out  there 
years  ago.  He  was  at  the  Lodge,  in  company  with  the 
D.  D.  G.  Master  of  that  district,  to  get  this  French  Lodge 
to  sign  a  petition  for  him  to  start  a  new  Lodge,  to  be 
called  Morse  Lodge,  named  after  our  lamented  Brother 
Morse,  of  this  Lodge,  years  ago,  who  died  some  time 
since. 

After  a  little  we  retired,  and  visited  San  Francisco 
Lodge,  across  the  Hall,  where  we  had  a  very  interesting 
time. 

April  21st,  in  company  with  P.  G.  Preston,  who  seemed 
to  know  all  about  this  town,  having  lived  here  in  1854,  I 
strolled  around  through  the  town.  We  called  upon  D. 
G.  Sire  Farnsworth,  and  found  him  a  gentleman  of  the 
first  water,  his  head  full  of  business,  and  at  the  same 
time  would  and  could  talk  about  Odd  Fellowship.  We 
also  called  upon  Brother  Austin,  editor  of  the  "  New  Age," 
an  Odd  Fellows'  paper,  and  P.  G.  R.  Nathan  Porter. 
Both  these  men  are  what  you  may  call  real  live  Odd 
Fellows,  rich  men  with  many  dollars,  but  always  ready 
to  say  and  to  do  something  for  our  cause.  They  seemed 
to  have  the  interests  of  Odd  Fellowship  at  heart.  We 
called  upon  other  brothers,  for  I  had  letters  of  introduc 
tion  to  all  the  principal  Odd  Fellows  of  San  Francisco, 
and  found  them  men  of  culture,  smart,  alive  and  ready 
to  do  something  to  advance  our  cause  ;  I  might  say  I  was 
treated  right  cordially,  and  invited  to  make  my  home 
with  them  while  in  town.  Of  course,  I  thanked  them 
for  their  kindness,  but  I  preferred  to  remain  with  my 
family  at  the  hotel. 

During  the  day  P.  G.  Preston  took  me  to  that  particu 
lar  quarter  of  the  city  called  Chinese  Town.  Now,  I 
wish  I  could  tell  you  in  a  few  words  what  we  saw  there  ; 
but  language  fails  me,  the  heathen  Chinee  must  be  stud 
ied  to  be  understood.  Once  in  a  while  you  will  see  one 
or  more  of  the  male  sex  promenading  the  streets  ;  but  go 
to  San  Francisco,  and  see  all  kinds  and  classes,  men, 


99 

women  and  children,  all  huddled  in  three  or  four  narrow 
streets,  40,000  of  them,  down  in  dark  cellars  or  up  in 
garrets,  actually  swarming  like  bees,  15  or  20  occu 
pying  a  room  not  more  than  fifteen  feet  square.— 
Many  of  them  laying  on  shelves  hung  around  in  the 
room,  and  then  the  women,  with  all  their  cheap  jewelry, 
always,  when  in  the  street,  wearing  a  string  of  keys  and 
other  things  hanging  from  their  waists.  They  have  very 
very  little  feet,  and,  as  a  class,  are  very  small  in  stature 
in  comparison  with  the  women  of  other  countries.  They 
are  quick  to  learn,  are  inveterate  smokers,  also  great 
gamblers,  and  have  other  vices  not  necessary  to  mention 
at  this  time.  In  company  with  my  family,  I  visited  their 
Joss  House  (a  church),  and  witnessed  their  Chistian 
services,  as  they  term  it.  Nothing  like  it  can  be  seen  in 
any  other  country,  except  China  itself.  They  worship 
gods  stuck  up  on  every  bench — they  know  nothing  about 
a  true  God  ;  their  god  is  called  "  Joss,"  a  wooden  image, 
and  nothing  more.  We  remained  and  saw  them  go 
through  with  their  heathenish  service,  which  was  sicken 
ing  in  the  extreme,  and  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated. 

Chinese  die,  and  are  buried  like  other  folks,  but  their 
burial  service  is  entirely  diiferent.  I  will  describe  what 
took  place  at  one  funeral  while  we  were  there.  A  China 
man,  called  Long  John  Khar,  a  Chinese  merchant  doing 
business  at  911  Dupont  Street,  right  in  the  middle  of  the 
Chinese  quarters,  was  buried  with  great  ceremonies.— 
Early  in  the  forenoon  the  body  was  placed  in  a  room, 
and  surrounded  by  about  twenty  women,  who  were  em 
ployed  as  mourners.  They  were  dressed  in  white  capes, 
with  white  bands  about  their  heads,  and  they  sway  back 
and  forth  in  unison,  keeping  up  a  continual  howling, 
crying  and  moaning. 

At  12  M.  the  body  was  taken  to  a  platform  which  had 
been  erected  before  the  house,  and  further  ceremonies 
were  performed.  A  large  number  of  roasted  pigs  and 
loaves  of  cake  were  placed  about  the  coffin,  and  strips 
of  paper,  bearing  mystical  signs,  were  thrown  upon  the 


100 

body.  The  whole  platform  was  surrounded  by  burning 
candles,  two  of  the  Chinese  bands  were  playing  funeral 
marches,  while  among  the  crowds  which  packed  the  street* 
from  Washington  Street  to  Jackson,  a  man  scattered  small 
coins,  which  were  carefully  done  up  in  tinted  paper.  The 
coffin  was  an  elegant  silver-bound  casket,  with  the  name 
of  the  deceased  beautifully  engraved  on  a  silver  plate. 

From  thence  to  the  grave,  iipon  Lone  Mountain  Hill, 
where  all  classes  and  denominations  have  their  burying 
places,  the  women  still  followed  the  body,  keeping  up 
their  howling  and  crying  as  they  went  along.  The  pigs 
and  loaves  of  cake  were  in  a  wagon  next  to  the  hearse, 
and  they  were  placed  upon  the  surface  of  the  grave  and 
around  it.  The  Chinese  watch  their  graves,  so  that  the 
hoodlums  shall  not  steal  their  pigs  and  cake  from  the 
grave.  After  a  while  all  is  gone,  but  no  one  knows  where 
or  how. 

On  Saturday  night,  September  21st,  I  attended  an  en 
campment  of  Odd  Fellows,  called  the  Oriental  Encamp 
ment.  They  had  six  candidates  for  the  Royal  Purple 
degree.  I  have  never  witnessed  the  work  done  as  it  was 
that  night.  There  were  six  candidates  and  six  guides,  a 
guide  for  each  candidate,  and  the  first  two  were  handled 
exceedingly  rough. 

And  talk  about  riches  !  Why,  one  candidate  was  repre 
sented  to  me  as  being  worth  $200,000  or  so.  The  guide 
alongside  of  him  was  worth  $500,000,  or  half  a  million, 
and  the  Junior  Warden  over  $1,000,000,  and  many  mem 
bers  in  the  room  were  represented  to  me  as  being  worth 
much  more  money,  even  beyond  calculation.  I  spent  a 
very  pleasant  evening,  and  returned  home  at  11  i  p.  M. 

On  Sunday,  April  22d,  I  went  to  Dr.  Stone's  Congre 
gational  Church,  one  of  the  leading  churches  of  San 
Francisco  The  text  was  from  Galatians  vi.  14:  "But 
God  forbid  that  1  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

In  the  afternoon  we  all  went  to  Woodward's  Garden, 
kept  by  a  live  Odd  Fellow,  by  the  name  of  Woodward. 


101 

The  sights  seen  there  are  wonderful  beyond  description, 
and  we  spent  a  happy  afternoon,  came  home,  took  tea, 
and  spent  the  evening  in  writing  letters  home  and  else 
where. 

Monday,  April  23d,  I  spent  the  forenoon  in  taking  a 
carriage  ride  with  my  family,  and  went  about  ten  miles 
out  to  see  the  Cliff  House  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Went 
through,  near  the  Golden  Gate ; — the  beautiful  Park, 
built  on  great  heaps  of  sand,  called  the  Golden  Gate 
Park,  which  extends  from  the  city  westward  over  hills 
of  sand  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  some  ten  miles.  Here  we 
found,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Golden  Gate,  a  number  of 
very  high  rocks  off  in  the  ocean,  500  feet  or  more  from 
shore.  These  high  rocks  are  always  covered  with  an  in 
numerable  number  of  sea  lions,  and  can  be  seen  very 
distinctly  with  a  marine  spy-glass.  With  the  roaring  of 
the  surf,  and  the  still  louder  roaring  of  these  wonderful 
animals,  the  sight  and  noise  is  extraordinary. 

I  undertook  to  count  the  animals  lodged  on  one  side  of 
a  rock  only,  but  I  failed,  for  they  are  seldom  still,  long 
enough  to  count  them.  The  whole  island  appears  to  be 
covered  with  these  animals,  rolling  and  tumbling  over 
each  other,  and  all  trying  to  get  upon  the  rocks  high 
enough  to  be  able  to  lay  still  for  a  few  minutes. 

While  looking  very  intently  at  a  great  big  lion,  black 
as  coal,  coming  out  of  the  water,  I  noticed  a  general 
getting  away  of  the  other  lions  giving  the  black  monster 
room  to  get  up.  Pretty  soon  he  reached  where  he  seemed 
to  be  at  home,  and  laid  down  to  have  a  sleep ;  but  soon, 
from  the  other  side  of  the  rock,  the  lions  would  punch 
him  with  their  noses,  and  this  would  cause  him  to  open 
his  mouth.  And  such  a  yell !  All  the  Comanche  Indians 
in  the  West  could  not  hold  a  candle  in  this  hallooing  to 
him.  When  he  opened  his  mouth  it  appeared  as  if  he 
could  swallow  a  horse  or  a  cow,  for  it  appeared  as  large 
as  a  cart  wheel. 

On  inquiry,  I  found  that  this  monster  was  an  old  fa 
vorite  among  the  sea  lions,  and  his  name  was  "  Ben  But- 


102 

ler."  I  am  no  great  judge  of  weight,  but  this  sea  lion  is 
estimated  to  weigh  over  7,000  pounds.  I  tried  to  discover 
a  " stye  in  his  eye"  but  failed  to  discover  one,  and 
therefore  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  why  he  is  called  "Ben 
Butler,"  for  he  does  not  look  like  him,  nor  in  anyway 
does  he  resemble  that  honorable  statesman. 

After  watching  these  wonderful  animals  a  while,  we 
went  to  the  Odd  Fellows'  cemetery,  about  five  miles  from 
the  city.  I  traced  my  steps  to  P.  G.  M.  Morse's  grave, 
took  some  flowers  from  off  it  and  brought  them  home ; 
but  they  did  not  live,  although  I  kept  them  alive  till 
within  two  hundred  miles  of  my  home. 

I  should  have  said  that  we  went  to  the  Cliff  House, 
built  where  a  good  view  of  the  sea  lions  and  seals  could 
be  obtained  ;  and  from  its  piazza,  we,  with  many  others, 
witnessed  the  playful  actions  of  these  animals. 

After  viewing  the  Masonic  and  other  cemeteries,  we 
went  to  our  hotel,  very  well  pleased  with  our  forenoon 
amusement,  then  had  our  dinner,  and  spent  the  rest  of 
the  day  in  seeing  the  sights  in  the  city.  In  the  evening  I 
went  to  California  Lodge,  the  one  to  which  brother  Morse 
belonged  while  living  in  this  city.  I  was  much  edified 
during  the  evening,  and  came  away  well  pleased  with 
my  visit. 

Thursday,  April  24th,  my  family  went  to  Sacramento, 
to  be  gone  a  day  or  two,  so  that  I  was  left  to  roam  about. 
In  the  morning  I  went  to  the  Masonic  Temple,  and  was 
introduced  to  brothers  of  the  order.  The  Janitor  took 
me  through  the  entire  building. . 

In  the  evening  I  attended  a  Veteran  Odd  Fellows 
meeting,  an  association  of  Odd  Fellows  who  have  been 
in  the  order  over  twenty  years,  at  Odd  Fellows  Hall. 
The  object  of  this  association  is  to  create  a  new  society, 
and  their  idea  is  to  have  a  good  time  every  three  months, 
visit  the  lodges  in  the  neighborhood,  give  them  good  ad 
vice,  help  them  on  in  the  good  cause,  generally  feed  the 
fires  of  Odd  Fellowship,  and  keep  them  burning  upon 
the  altar  of  every  true  Odd  Fellow' s  heart.  This  meet- 


103 

ing  organized  by  electing  Brother  N.  Porter,  as  Presi 
dent  ;  and  other  work  was  done.  Over  150  members  re 
sponded  to  the  call  ;  and  all  those  who  had  been  Odd 
Fellows  over  twenty  years  were  entitled  to  membership. 

April  25th  was  spent  in  visiting  sundry  places.  The 
first  place  was  the  Mission  Church.  This  is  one  of  the 
institutions  of  the  city,  and  is  over  100  years  old,  of  the 
old  Spanish  rite  kind.  Services  are  held  every  day.  The 
old  lamp  is  kept  burning  over  the  altar  as  it  was  one 
hundred  years  ago.  This  church  has  three  bells  hung  over 
the  entrance  to  the  church,  and  every  day  in  the  year,  at 
12  noon,  these  bells  are  rung.  In  the  rear  of  the  church  is 
the  grave  yard.  On  walking  through  it,  I  came  across 
Yankee  Sullivan' s  grave.  It  will  be  recollected  that  this 
Yankee  Sullivan  was  a  great  fighter.  In  the  year  1856, 
he,  among  others  of  his  kind,  had  been  seized  by  the 
Vigilance  Committee,  tried,  and  convicted  of  the  many 
crimes  charged,  and  sentenced  to  banishment.  While 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  which  was  to  convey 
the  cargo  of  human  scum  from  the  shores  California, 
confined  in  one  of  the  cells  of  the  Vigilante's  building, 
on  Commercial  Street,  he  learned  that  William  Mulligan, 
his  deadly  enemy,  of  whom  he  stood  in  mortal  dread, 
would  be  one  of  his  companions  on  the  trip  ;  he  there 
upon  sharpened  the  table-knife  with  which  he  cut  his 
food,  and  then  haggled  his  left  arm,  above  the  elbow, 
with  this  knife,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  his  death. 
His  true  name  was  James  Sullivan. 

I  also  visited  the  mint,  a  great  institution,  the  largest 
of  its  kind  in  the  world.  They  have  milled  over  $3,000,- 
000  a  day. 

In  the  evening  I  visited  Templar  Lodge,  the  one  to  which 
Bros.  Porter  and  Parnsworth  belong.  I  find  the  work 
about  on  a  par  with  old  Atlantic.  They  had  no  initiation, 
but  they  had  a  subject  to  talk  about  that  instructed  the 
brethren  pretty  well.  It  was  this  :  "  Should  the  Trustees 
go  on  and  finish  putting  up  grave-stones,  of  a  proper 
kind,  to  each  of  the  brothers  buried  in  their  lot,  or  not, 
as  they  were  instructed  to  do  some  two  years  ago." 


104 

The  Trustees  hesitated  to  go  on  putting  up  the  stones 
as  they  had  been  directed  to  do  two  years  before,  and 
had  decided  in  their  own  minds  to  have  another  vote  from 
the  lodge  before  doing  so.  After  a  lengthy  discussion, 
the  vote  was  taken,  and  they  were  directed  to  go  on  at 
once  and  finish  up  the  job,  and  to  do  what  they  were 
told  to  do.  After  some  other  business,  the  Lodge  closed, 
and  I  returned  to  my  hotel. 

April  26th.  This  is  the  58th  anniversary  of  our  Order  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  Odd  Fellows  of  San  Francisco 
decided  to  have  a  pic-nic  on  the  occasion,  at  a  place 
called  Belrnont,  some  thirty  miles  from  here,  on  the 
Southern  Pacilic  Railroad. 

A  great  crowd  of  men,  women  and  children,  gathered, 
the  number  being  estimated  at  30,000  on  the  grounds  at 
one  time.  Nothing  occurred  to  break  the  harmony  of 
the  great  meeting,  unless  the  falling  of  the  dance-room 
floor,  by  which  a  number  of  ladies  and  children  were 
hurt,  some  pretty  badly.  The  programme  was  curious, 
and  consisted  of  music,  singing,  dancing,  spelling,  run 
ning  races,  chasing  a  greased  pig,  and  so  on,  and  wound 
up  nicely.  In  the  evening  we  returned  home,  and  I 
found  that  my  wife  had  returned  home  from  Sacramento 
all  right. 

April  27.  Spent  this  day,  in  company  with  my  fa 
mily,  in  sight-seeing  at  different  places.  We  visited 
the  mint  again,  and  saw  money,  money,  money,  every 
where  laying  loose  on  the  floor,  on  shelves,  and  in  boxes ; 
many  thousand  dollars  of  gold  were  spread  out  before 
us.  We  returned  home,  and  had  for  dinner  all  kinds  of 
vegetables,  peas,  beans,  strawberries,  &c., — and  recollect 
this  was  only  the  27th  of  April ;  in  fact,  we  had  every 
kind  of  garden  truck  that  is  generally  raised  in  hot 
houses  :  but  here  it  is  different,  all  of  this  produce  grows 
in  the  open  air. 

April  28 — Saturday.  This  day  was  spent  in  seeing  the 
sights,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  went  to  Oakland,  which 
is  to  San  Francisco  the  same  as  Brooklyn  is  to  New  York. 


105 

We  take  a  ferry-boat,  and  go  about  two  miles  to  a  pier 
two  miles  in  length,  the  longest  pier  ever  built  by  man, 
and  then  take  the  cars  for  Oakland.  After  seeing  Oak 
land  (which  takes  its  name  from  the  beautiful  live  oaks 
all  through  and  around  it),  we  went  to  Brooklyn,  some 
two  miles  back  from  Oakland. 

I  asked  the  driver  if  he  knew  all  about  Brooklyn.  He 
said  he  did  ;  I  then  told  him  to  drive  to  399  Clinton  Street, 
my  home  in  Brooklyn.  He  thought  for  a  moment,  and 
finally  said  I  had  him,  for  there  was  no  such  place  in 
Brooklyn  ;  I  differed  with  him,  arid  told  him  that  that 
was  my  home.  He  soon  saw  the  joke,  and  drove  on. 

I  notice  many  scrub  oak  trees,  and  at  a  distance  they 
look  very  much  like  apple  trees  ;  they  are  not  very  large 
or  tall ;  the  trunk  may  be  8  or  10  feet  high,  and  then  they 
spread  out,  and  have  very  hard  limbs.  We  saw  very 
beautiful  houses  and  grounds  everywhere.  Oakland  and 
Brooklyn,  out  here,  appear  to  be  the  retiring  places  for 
the  merchants  and  others  of  San  Francisco.  After  spend 
ing  a  very  pleasant  afternoon  we  returned  home. 

In  the  evening  I  attended  a  Rebecca  degree  Lodge, 
called  the  Templar  Lodge,  No.  19,  and  was  well  enter 
tained  while  there. 

April  29  —Sunday.  In  the  morning  went  to  Plymouth 
Congregational  Church,  P.  K.  Noble,  pastor,  and  a  noble 
man  he  is,  too.  He  preached  from  Matthew  iv.,  10,  11, 
about  the  devil  tempting  Christ,  and  a  splendid  sermon 
it  was.  In  the  evening,  went  to  hear  Chaplain  McCabe 
preach,  at  the  Howard  St.  M.  E.  Church.  He  preached 
on  church  extension.  After  the  services,  the  chaplain 
sung  a  number  of  his  sweet  songs  of  praise  ;  and  a  most 
delightful  singer  the  chaplain  is.  I  heard  him  here,  in 
Brooklyn,  soon  after  the  war  closed ;  I  did  not  see  that 
he  had  lost  much  of  his  old  style  of  singing.  This 
Chaplain  was  in  the  Union  army,  was  captured,  and 
sent  to  Libby  prison,  and  was  there  many  months. 

April  30.  Spent  this  day  in  fixing  up  things  generally. 
I  called  on  Mr.  Joseph  W.  Wynant,  President  of  the 


106 

Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  and  he  ap 
peared  right  glad  to  see  one  who  belonged  to  the  Parent 
Society  in  New  York.  He  introduced  me  to  his  Secre 
tary,  in  another  part  of  the  building,  and  made  me  pro 
mise  to  call  again  before  I  returned  to  Brooklyn  ;  but  I 
was  so  busy  that  I  was  prevented  from  doing  so.  In  the 
evening  went  down  to  the  steamboat  landing,  and  met 
Mrs.  Gregory  returning  liome  from  her  brother's  in  Sa 
cramento.  Escorted  the  lady  to  her  hotel,  and  spent  the 
rest  of  the  evening  with  my  family. 

May  1.  This  day  spent  in  getting  ready  to  go  to  the 
Geysers.  Started  at  2£  p.  M.,  took  steamboat  named  the 
u  James  M.  Done  van,"  for  Donahue,  thence  by  cars  to 
Cloverdale,  and  arrived  there,  and  remained  over  night. 
We  stopped  at  the  only  hotel  in  the  village,  kept  by  a 
Dutchman.  The  hotel  was  full,  arid  the  landlord  owned 
a  cottage  near  by  ;  he  offered  to  give  us  the  cottage  dur 
ing  the  night  to  sleep  in,  in  words  something  like  these  : 
"Mine  hodell  is  ferry  vull,  and  I  dinks  you  all  hat  pet- 
ter  gum  ofer  the  gottage,  vare  you  will  pe  all  py  yourn- 
sefes,  for  it  is  petter  vor  old  peobles  vat  vants  to  schleeps, 
day  hat  petter  pe  py  temselves  vare  dare  is  no  noise." 
So  ve  old  peobles  vent  ore  mit  de  gottage,  vare  ve  could 
have  it  ferry  schtill,  so  ve  could  schleeps.  On  arriving 
at  the  cottage  we  found  it  splendidly  furnished,  with  an 
organ  in  the  parlor.  We  had  Sanckey's  book  of  hymns, 
Mrs.  Gregory  and  Mr.  Marsh  and  wife,  from  Brook 
lyn,  in  company  with  us  commenced  singing,  and  such 
a  time  as  we  had  altogether,  in  singing,  telling  stories, 
&c.,  &c.  ;  why  the  people  in  the  hotel  proper  did  not 
know  what  to  make  of  it ;  the  neighbors  collected  toge 
ther,  and  they  inquired  of  the  landlord  what  was  going 
on  at  the  cottage.  He  replied  by  saying  a  lot  of  "beo- 
ples,  vat  vas  old  beoples,"  had  taken  the  cottage  to 
schleep  in,  and  he  daut  dey  vas  only  schnoring  a  very 
little.  The  answer  was  satisfactory,  and  we,  seven  per 
sons,  will  never  forget  the  night  at  the  cottage  in  Clover- 
dale. 


107 

May  2.  We  took  a  four-horse  stage  for  the  Geysers, 
early  in  the  morning,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles.  The 
first  four  miles  of  this  route  runs  through  the  beautiful 
Russian  Valley,  where  we  saw  fields  of  wheat,  and  other 
kinds  of  grain  in  great  abundance.  We  then  commenced 
to  ascend  the  mountains,  winding  hither  and  thither  along 
the  sides  of  the  foot  of  the  hills,  often  under  the  wide- 
spreading  oak  and  other  trees  ;  sometimes  descending  a 
little,  then  rising  higher  and  higher,  until  we  reach  the 
great  "Hogs'  Back,"  or  crowning  ridge.  The  scene 
from  this  point,  looking  backward,  is  a  grand  one,  whose 
beauty  no  pen  can  adequately  describe.  The  morning  is 
bright,  the  air  is  still,  every  breath  of  this  pure  mountain 
air  is  laden  with  an  inspiration  of  thought.  Away  in 
the  blue  distance  the  ocean  can  be  seen ;  near  by,  and 
almost  beneath  us,  are  seen  the  green  fields,  the  trees  on 
plain  and  hillside,  from  the  cone  and  bower-like  form  to 
that  of  the  straight  and  spirit-like  pine  and  fir  tree,  dot 
ting  the  landscape  with  emeralds,  making  the  whole  sur 
prisingly  beautiful. 

Wild  flowers,  of  the  most  beautiful  kind,  are  strewn 
over  the  mountains,  and  the  blossoms  of  the  "Buck- 
Eye"  and  the  mountain  lilac  perfume  the  air,  while  the 
birds  break  the  silence  with  their  songs. 

At  the  bottom  of  a  beautiful  "  Canon,"  darkly  shaded 
with  trees,  was  a  large  mountain  stream,  at  which  we  all 
got  out,  watered  our  horses,  and  rested  ourselves.  After 
a  short  rest  we  started  again ;  and  from  this  place  we 
descended  very  rapidly — some  1,900  feet,  in  a  distance  of 
but  two  miles — and  as  we  would  come  around  some 
sharp  point,  the  leaders  of  our  team  often  out  of  sight 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ridge,  we  would  involuntarily 
shut  our  eyes  and  hold  our  breath  (as  we  supposed  we 
would,  were  we  dropping  from  the  skies)  ;  and  thus  for 
two  hours  did  we  fly  through  this  mountain  gorge.  At 
10  A.  M.  we  dropped,  as  it  were,  in  front  of  our  hotel, 
called  the  Geyser  Springs  Hotel,  and  we  all  took  a  good 
long  breath,  thanking  God  for  our  safe  deliverance. 


toe 

The  Great  Geysers  are  directly  in  front  of  us,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  "Gorge"  or  "Canon"  as  it  is  called 
here.  This  "  Geyser  Canon,"  is  quite  narrow  at  its  junc 
tion  with  the  creek,  but  widens  gradually  as  it  ascends. 

We,  in  company  with  our  guide,  at  -t  P.  M.,  left  the 
hotel,  passed  through  a  gate  down  a  path  leading  to 
"  Plu ton's  Creek."  Here  we  passed  over  a  rustic  bridge, 
then  followed  a  trail.  We  soon  reached  the  Geyser 
stream  of  warm  water,  which  cascades  over  craggy  rocks 
into  a  deep  gorge,  completely  shaded  by  a  dense  growth 
of  box  or  laurel  trees. 

The  first  thing  that  attracted  our  attention  was  the 
"Eye- water  Spring."  I  have  a  vial  of  the  same  for  ex 
hibition  here  this  evening.  The  next  point  is  the  ' '  Devil 's 
Office,"  a  weird  grotto-like  place,  with  crystals  of  Epsom 
salts  hanging  from  its  rocky  banks.  The  guide  is  particu 
lar  in  giving  the  name  of  each  place,  as  being  associated 
with  the  devil.  We  will  leave  out  his  satanic  majesty's 
name  pretty  generally,  and  note  each  point  of  attraction 
as  we  ascend  the  canon,  in  their  order.  From  this  up 
ward,  as  we  climb  the  cafion,  there  are  no  trees  or  vegeta 
tion.  This  cafion  widens  out  in  the  shape  of  a  fan  as  we 
go  upward,  and  it  now  appears  as  though  we  were  enter 
ing  the  crater  of  a  volcano.  The  first  thing  is  a  "Corn 
Mill"  (from  the  sound  of  a  mill  grinding  corn) ;  then  fol 
lows  the  "Ink  Mill,"  the  "Punch  Bowl,"  the  "Boiling 
Alum  Spring,"  the  "Devil's  Arm-Chair,"  the  "  Blarney 
Stone,"  the  "Witch's  Caldron."  This  last  spring  is  a 
remarkable  one,  about  8  feet  in  diameter,  and  of  an  un 
known  depth  ;  temperature  is  said  to  be  about  230  de 
grees,  and  will  boil  an  egg  in  two  minutes.  Its  waters 
are  as  black  as  ink,  and  are  in  great  commotion,  boiling 
up  so  fiercely  as  to  shoot  up  to  a  considerable  height,  and 
making  a  loud  noise.  The  waters  of  all  these  springs 
were  very  hot,  and  the  ground  around  them  was  so  hot 
that  we  could  not  stand  more  than  a  half  minute  in  one 
place ;  for  it  actually  burned  our  boots  and  shoes,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  keep  moving  from  one  stone  to  ano- 


109 

ther  to  prevent  our  feet  from  being  burned  ;  and  all  this 
great  heat  came  up  through  the  ground  on  the  hill-side. 
Near  the  Witches'  Caldron,  is  the  Intermittent  Scalding 
Spring,  which  sometimes  projects  jets  of  hot  water  to  a 
height  of  many  feet.  Next  is  the  Stamp  Mill,  named 
from  its  sound.  Then  we  reach  the  Steamboat  G-eyser, 
upon  the  shelving  rock  or  bank,  where  the  steam  comes 
rushing  out  from  an  opening  as  large  as  a  barrel,  and 
shooting  upward  to  a  great  height,  making  a  loud  noise, 
exactly  resembling  the  loudest  blowing  off  of  a  steamboat. 

The  next  point  of  interest  is  a  rock  nearly  100  feet 
high,  and  on  which  is  a  flag- staff,  with  the  American 
flag  floating  from  it.  This  is  called  the  "Devil's  Pul 
pit,"  and  it  really  seems  out  of  place  to  have  the  good 
old  star-spangled  banner  associated  with  such  a  name 
and  place.  We  ascend  laboriously  to  the  commanding 
position  which  this  .place  affords  us.  We  are  now  on  an 
elevated  point  overlooking  the  whole  canon,  and  such  a 
sight ! — looking  down  at  the  clouds,  columns  and  jets  of 
steam,  through  which  we  have  groped  our  way  upward  to 
this  place — and  once  we  came  near  falling  heavily  and 
scalding  our  hands  in  the  seething  waters.  The  scene 
beggars  description.  We  are  perspiring  freely  from 
every  pore,  having  passed  over  the  heated  and  encrust 
ed  rocks,  in  which  steps  have  been  cut,  and  through 
blinding  and  stifling  vapor,  we  feel  we  are  about  to 
melt,  as  the  rocks  beneath  us  appear  to  be  doing,  with 
fervent  heat ;  the  odor  of  brimstone  has  penetrated  our 
very  bones. 

We  have  thus  far  merely  given  the  names  of  things  in 
this  route,  but  the  phenomenal  display  is  wonderful.  As 
we  passed  upward,  the  rocks  beneath  us,  and  the  sloping 
banks  on  either  side  of  us,  seemed  honey-combed,  and 
the  steam  rushing  out  of  a  thousand  openings,  some 
small,  others  larger,  then  an  immense  body.  The  sounds 
were  terrible  and  confusing,  hissing,  blowing,  puffing, 
whistling,  pounding,  stamping,  churning,  grinding,  till  it 
seemed  as  if  we  were  passing  through  a  "  World's  Exhi 
bition"  of  all  its  steam  machinery  at  one  place. 


110 

The  rocks  all  the  way  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  CM  MOM 
are  coated  with  crystalizations  of  salt,  sulphur,  iron, 
alum,  borax,  magnesia,  Epsom  salts,  ammonia,  nitre,  and 
most  of  the  substances  known  in  chemistry.  Their  color 
is  of  all  shades  of  red,  blue,  yellow,  orange,  and  green  ; 
the  color  of  the  water  is  from  that  of  the  most  transparent 
crystal  to  that  of  the  blackest  ink,  and  their  tastes  are 
indescribable. 

We  descended  from  the  pulpit,  and  passed  a  few  yards 
eastward,  over  the  spur  of  the  hill,  and  rested  a  few  mi 
nutes  in  the  shade  of  the  Temperance  Spring,  a  beautiful 
stream  of  cold  water  gushing  out  from  under  a  cluster  of 
large  trees.  This  water  is  refreshing  and  invigorating, 
after  our  seething  experience  through  the  devil's  domi 
nions.  In  passing  over  the  hill,  our  guide  called  our  at 
tention  to  the  ground  over  which  we  were  passing.  It 
was  the  crater  of  another  volcano.  Never  having  seen 
one,  except  in  pictures,  it  caused  not  a  little  surprise  to 
our  party.  In  passing  over,  I  took  my  cane  and  pressed 
it  down  in  the  soft  clayish  mud-like  soil  about  one  and  a 
half  feet.  On  pulling  out  the  cane,  a  smell  of  brimstone 
and  steam  came  out  of  the  hole  made  by  it.  I  looked  at 
my  comrades,  and  made  the  remark  that  there  could  be 
no  doubt  that  we  were  in  the  devil's  dominions,  and  I, 
for  one,  was  going  to  get  up  and  get ;  as  I  started,  the 
others  followed  my  example,  and  although  there  was  no 
chance  of  our  going  down  into  the  volcano,  we  all  felt 
better  when  we  stood  on  safer  ground.  We  then  passed 
to  another  spring  of  cold  water,  and  found  natural  seats 
facing  ' '  Lover' s  Retreat, ' '  down  a  gorge  into  which  a 
disappointed  lover  might  leap  were  he  so  inclined.  We 
took  a  seat  and  rested  ourselves,  preparatory  to  going 
into  a  gorge  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains.  I  should 
have  mentioned  that  all  around  the  crater  there  are  rocks 
calcined  by  heat  to  an  ash-colored  powder,  and  small 
fragments  of  stone.  After  taking  a  good  rest,  we  started 
down  the  steep  declivity,  and  we  soon  came  to  the  great 
"  Indian  Sweating  Bath,"' where  the  Indians  bring  their 


Ill 

sick  to  be  cured,  by  steaming  powers.  There  is  a  force 
and  volume  of  steam  rushing  from  a  great  opening  in 
the  side  of  the  mountain,  among  the  rocks,  sufficient  to 
propel  one  of  our  largest  China  ships.  Further  on  we 
find  the  "  Tea-kettle,"  where  the  hot  steam  comes  out 
with  great  force,  and  an  iron  whistle  has  been  placed, 
and  it  gives  a  shrill  and  deafening  sound  near  by,  and 
can  be  distinctly  heard  at  the  hotel  one  half  mile  away. 

Descending  the  bank  some  distance,  we  come  to  some 
rustic  seats,  placed  under  a  magnificent  clump  of  trees. 
It  is  a  delightful  spot  in  which  to  rest,  write,  or  study. 
We  sat  down  and  took  a  good  rest,  and  then  started  on 
our  homeward  journey.  Climbing  over  rocks,  precipi 
ces  and  other  impediments,  we  at  last  reached  our  hotel, 
highly  delighted  with  our  afternoon  visit  to  the  Geysers. 
After  spending  the  time  in  rambling  over  the  mountains, 
catching  a  deer,  fishing  in  the  stream,  we  spent  the  eve 
ning  in  singing,  Mrs.  Gregory  taking  the  lead,  as  she 
generally  does  in  that  line,  being  a  splendid  singer,  which 
you  will  believe  when  you  hear  her  sing  some  of  her  fa 
vorite  trills.  She  was  accompanied  by  other  singers 
boarding  at  the  hotel,  and  the  time  was  spent  most  agree 
ably. 

After  remaining  almost  three  days  longer,  we  were 
ready  to  start  on  our  journey  once  more  ;  so  at  8  A.  M., 
next  morning,  we  took  one  of  Foss'  four-horse  stages, 
young  Foss  driving.  He  handled  the  lines  well.  He  is 
the  son  of  old  Foss,  the  world-renowned  driver  of  San 
Francisco.  We  were  in  the  company  of  this  young 
man  until  10  A.  M.,  when  we  arrived  at  Pine  Flats, 
and  here  we  were  met  by  old  Foss  himself,  with  a 
team  of  six  horses.  His  name  is  Clarke  Foss — as  I  said 
before,  the  best  driver  in  the  Western  world.  Stage 
driving,  in  this  country,  is  an  institution  to  be  studied, 
to  be  understood ;  and  the  driver  of  a  stage  is  the  same 
as  an  engineer  of  a  railroad  train,  and,  in  the  wild  driv 
ing,  though  never  meeting  with  an  accident,  they  often 
times  become  endeared  to  mankind  ;  and  Clarke  Foss,  our 


112 

hero,  stands  foremost  among  these  at  the  present  time, 
and  his  name  will  be  handed  down  in  the  early  history 
of  California.  Seating  ourselves  under  his  care  for  a 
ride  of  18  miles,  let  us  draw  his  picture.  He  was  born 
among  the  granite  hills  of  New  Hampshire,  is  now  53 
years  old,  whiskers  frosted  with  grey,  eyes  like  the  eagle, 
heart  like  a  child's,  voice  like  a  commander  of  forces, 
motion  quick  as  thought,  over  six  feet  high,  weighs  240 
pounds,  hair  black,  the  most  perfect  physique  and  sym 
metry  of  a  man. 

Away  we  go,  with  the  fleetness  of  the  wind  ;  the  whole 
distance  to  Calestoga,  where  we  take  the  cars,  is  26  miles. 
This  road  twists  and  wrinds  around  rapidly,  like  an  inex 
plicable  maze,  coursing  along  the  very  edge  of  awful 
chasms  for  seven  miles,  when  we  enter  the  plains  of 
"  Knight's  Valley."  To  afford  the  reader  a  correct  idea 
of  this  mountain  road,  over  which  we  have  just  traveled, 
we  will  mention  that  we  found  275  deep  curves,  and  many 
of  them  so  short  that  the  leaders  of  our  horses  are  out  of 
sight  on  one  side  of  projecting  rocks  while  the  stage  is  on 
the  other  side  ;  so  nearly  does  this  driver  notice  the  mo 
tion  of  his  carriage,  that  the  hubs  would  seem  to  crush  a 
fly  from  the  rocks  on  one  side  and  a  mosquito  from  the 
bark  of  a  tree  on  the  other,  always,  as  yet,  missing  the 
rocks  on  one  side  and  never  striking  the  tree  on  the  other. 
It  is  most  exciting  to  see  this  great  man  sitting  in  his 
seat  holding  firmly  the  reins  of  six  horses  in  his  left 
hand,  and  the  whip,  with  its  long  lash,  in  his  right  hand, 
giving  it  a  twirl  and  a  crack  which  echoes  among  the 
rocky  cliffs  like  the  report  of  a  pistol.  The  horses  are 
trained  by  him  ;  they  know  his  voice,  and  touch  of  rein, 
arid  crack  of  whip,  and  they  obey.  We  say  to  every  one 
who  can  do  so,  before  the  locomotive  supplants  the  stage 
coach  in  California  as  it  does  in  the  East,  or  before  he 
shall  have  been  gathered  to  his  fathers,  to  be  sure  to  en 
joy  a  ride  over  the  mountains  with  Foss,  the  greatest 
six-horse  driver  in  existence.  And  thus  we  go  up  and 
down  until  we  arrive  at  Fossville  House,  the  hotel  of 


113 

jehu  ;  and  this  is  a  spot  not  often  found  in  the  West— 
everything  clean  and  nice,  the  dwelling,  the  stables, 
horses,  hens,  pigs,  the  fruit  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers, 
and  the  enormous  oak,  over  seven  feet  in  diameter,  in  his 
front  yard,  looked  thrifty,  perfect  and  neat ;  and  here 
we  had  one  of  the  best  dinners  we  had  since  leaving  our 
homes  in  the  East.  Having  changed  horses,  we  mount 
again,  and  the  road  being  here  in  good  condition  and 
nearly  level,  this  monarch  of  the  lash  shows  us  what  he 
and  his  horses  can  do.  We  start  on  a  fast  trot.  At  a 
loud  command  there  is  a  gallop — with  a  shout  and  crack 
of  the  whip,  a  run.  A  grey  squirrel  was  leisurely  cross 
ing  the  road  some  ways  ahead  ;  hearing  a  noise,  he  stop 
ped,  and,  seeing  it  was  Foss,  he  started  again  just  in 
time  to  save  his  brush.  At  a  word,  in  hardly  audible 
tones  from  the  driver,  the  horses  slow  down  to  a  gentle 
trot.  Away  ahead,  we  see  peeping  over  the  trees  the 
domes  and  roofs  of  Calistoga.  Starting  again  into  a 
gallop,  then  a  run,  with  a  cloud  of  dust  reaching  far 
out  behind  us,  like  the  tail  of  a  comet,  we  enter  the  town, 
and  turning  a  curve  full  in  front  of  the  Railroad  Depot, 
we  get  out,  and  shaking  off  the  dust,  look  back  to  see 
where  we  came  from  away  off  upon  the  mountain ; 
and  in  a  short  time  we  are  down  in  the  valley  and 
ready  to  take  our  seats  in  the  cars  for  San  Francisco 
again,  after  visiting  one  of  the  great  wonders  of  the 
world. 

I  wish  to  say,  when  we  were  at  Fossvile  Hotel,  some 
of  us  passengers  concluded  to  go  to  the  petrified  forest 
of  California,  which  we  found  was  in  the  mountains,  at 
right  angles  with  our  destination,  some  14  miles.  We 
had  only  two  hours  to  do  the  whole  trip  in  and  get  to 
Calistoga  in  time  for  the  cars.  Foss  said  he  could  do 
it,  provided  we  could  stand  the  journey.  We  answered 
we  would  take  the  chances,  and  he  hitched  up  another 
team,  of  four  horses  this  time,  and  off  we  went.  The 
road  was  splendid,  but  very  hilly  ;  but  Foss  drove  him 
self.  And  such  a  trip  I  never  had  before  in  all  my  life. 


114 

The  horses  (mustangs  they  were),  and  little  ponies  at 
that,  fairly  flew,  never  stopped  until  we  arrived  at  the 
trees.  Stayed  there  long  enough  to  see  one  of  the  won 
ders  of  the  West,  got  some  specimens  of  the  wood,  and 
started  on  the  return  trip  again.  Much  T  could  say  about 
this  remarkable  trip,  but  as  we  are  getting  in  a  hurry  to 
see  the  end  of  it,  I  will  refrain,  but  will  say  that  Foss 
landed  us  in  time  for  the  train ;  he  said  he  had  never 
yet  missed  doing  so,  although  he  had  killed  many  horses 
in  his  drives. 

And  now,  after  a  number  of  days,  I  find  myself  at  the 
Palace  Hotel,  rested  and  ready  for  another  trip  ;  but  re 
membering  that  this  was  Grand  Encampment  day  in  San 
Francisco,  I  decided  to  attend,  and  did  so,  and  was  in 
troduced  by  P.  G.  R.  Porter,  was  received  in  the  usual 
form,  and  took  a  seat  among  the  Patriarchs. 

May  the  5th.  I  spent  this  day  also  at  the  Grand  En 
campment,  and,  while  there,  P.  G.  M.  Barnes  and  his 
friend  Alexander  came  in,  and  we  had  a  good  time  all  day. 


115 


LEOTUEE  NO.  5. 


On  May  7th  I  attended  Bay  City  Lodge,  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  and  I  noticed  the  odes  they  used  differed  from 
ours,  in  that  they  were  encased  with  tin  to  prevent  them 
from  wearing  ont  so  fast. 

There  are  in  San  Francisco  22  Lodges,  having  a  con 
tingent  fund  of  over  600, 000  dollars. 

Rich  Lodges  in  San  Francisco. — Grand  Secretary 
Lyon,  of  California,  sent  me  the  statistical  table  of  the  22 
Lodges  of  San  Francisco,  taken  from  their  Annual  Re 
ports  for  the  year  ending  December  31st,  1876.  Number 
of  members  in  the  city  5,289,  of  which  617  are  P.  G's, 
4,104  S.  D.  members,  376  initiatory,  and  the  rest  divided 
among  the  different  degrees ;  Yerba-Buena,  No.  15,  has 
590  members  and  $109,898.34  assets;  Bay  City,  No.  71, 
241  members,  and  $81,293.73  ;  Templar,  No.  17/490  mem 
bers  and  $75,630.44;  California,  No.  1,  316  members, 
and  $66,466.60;  Harmony,  No.  13,  287  members,  and 
$58,558.47  ;  Magnolia,  No.  29,  285  members,  and 
$36,769.27;  San  Francisco,  No.  3,  274  members,  and 
$31, *279. 83  ;  Parker,  No.  124,  270  members,  and  $27,876.- 
57  ;  Abou  Ben  Adhem,  No.  112,  Germania,  No.  116,  Con- 
cordia,  No.  122,  and  Apollo,  No.  123,  have  each  nearly 
300  members,  and  assets  of  over  $24,000  each.  The  others 
range  about  1 50  members,  and  from  $4,000  to  $10,000  each. 
The  total  assets  of  the  City  Lodges,  22  in  number,  are 
$643,406.52,  and,  as  is  well  known,  this  great  amount  has 
not  been  accumulated  by  failing  to  pay  out  to  aid  the 
distressed — by  no  means — for  during  the  year  $66,144.87 
have  been  paid  out  for  relief  and  charity,  an  average  of 
over  $3,000  per  Lodge.  No.  15  paid  out  for  relief  $8,043.- 
30;  No  17,  $8,450.62  ;  No.  13,  $6,950,  cfec.,  &c.,  &c. 


116 

These  figures  are  wonderful,  and  illustrate  practical 
Odd  Fellowship  in  a  manner  far  beyond  the  power  of  ora 
tory  or  argument.  Our  brethren  of  the  Golden  State  de 
serve  this  prosperity,  and  may  this  condition  of  affairs 
be  but  the  index  of  their  future. 

After  Bay  City  Lodge  closed,  I  crossed  the  hall 
into  another  Lodge,  and  there  I  found  Brothers  Barnes 
and  Alexander  singing  their  songs  and  playing,  and 
telling  their  stories,  which  kept  the  Lodge  in  a  con 
tinual  roar  of  laughter.  These  two  men  make  a  good 
team,  for  both  can  tell  a  good  story  or  sing  a  good  song. 

Tuesday,  May  8th,  I  visited  the  Grand  Lodge.  I 
was  introduced  by  D.  G.  M.  Dann,  and  I  was  received 
very  cordially  by  the  brethren  and  invited  to  take  a  seat 
with  them,  which  I  did,  and  spent  a  very  pleasant  day. 
In  the  evening  I  went  to  Mechanics'  Institute,  in  com 
pany  with  my  family,  and  spent  an  evening  with  the 
Order  of  Ancient  Odd  Fellows  ;  P.  G.  R.  Porter  pre 
sided.  Some  5,000  persons  were  in  attendance,  and  the 
full  programme  was  carried  out,  including  speaking, 
music  and  singing,  from  the  two  indefatigable  Odd  Fel 
lows  Barnes  and  Alexander,  who  acquitted  themselves  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  present. 

May  9th.  Spent  this  day  at  the  Grand  Lodge.  Over 
600  members  in  attendance,  and  they  seemed  to  be  a 
happy,  joyous  lot  of  men,  met  for  the  purpose  of  doing 
good  in  our  Order.  Some  two  hundred  Past  Grands 
took  the  Past  Grands  degree  the  first  day.  I  noticed  that 
when  a  brother  was  introduced  from  the  East  (which 
occurred  quite  often),  a  number  of  brothers  would  leave 
their  seats  and  scrape  an  acquaintance  with  him.  On 
inquiry,  I  learned  that  they  all  hailed  from  the  same 
section  of  the  country  East,  and  felt  it  their  ducy  to  visit 
the  brothers  from  the  section  of  their  homes,  and  often 
from  their  own  Lodges,  when  at  home  in  the  East,  as 
they  call  it. 

The  Grand  Master  uTilden,"  of  the  State  of  Califor 
nia,  has  instituted  14  new  Lodges  during  the  year,  and 


117 

dedicated  several  new  Lodge-rooms  throughout  the  State. 
His  report  was  a  very  distinct  and  cleverly  written  docu 
ment,  and  was  received  by  the  members  present  with 
much  satisfaction. 

In  the  afternoon,  at  4  p.  M.,  we  all  started  for  Yose- 
mite  Valley,  and  arrived  at  Merced  at  10:45  P.  M.  Re 
mained  there  all  night,  and  in  the  morning,  May  llth, 
we  took  the  early  stage  for  Mariposa  Village.  We  had 
five  horses  in  our  team,  and  we  skimmed  it  over  the 
dusty  plains  for  many  miles  until  our  arrival,  at  6J  P.  M., 
and  remained  over  night.  We  went  through  more  dust 
on  that  day  than  in  all  our  lives  before  ;  forty -four  miles 
by  stage,  over  the  dusty  plains,  was  an  event  that  we 
shall  remember  while  life  lasts.  As  I  said  before,  we 
stopped  at  Mariposa  over  night,  and  after  a  good  night' s 
rest,  we  were  ready  to  start  on  our  dusty  trip  again.  This 
country  needs  rain  very  much,  it  has  not  rained  here,  of 
any  account,  for  the  last  fifteen  months,  and  everything 
that  grows  has  to  be  irrigated  from  streams  running  from 
the  mountains. 

We  resumed  our  journey  the  next  day,  and  traveled 
over  hill  and  mountain,  into  dell  and  valley,  and  then  up 
on  the  mountain  again,  and  over  the  roughest  roads  I  ever 
saw.  We  passed  through  the  largest  pine,  blossom,  ce 
dar,  oak  and  other  kinds  of  woods,  going  over  the  moun 
tains,  that  I  ever  saw  in  my  life,  yet  in  this  country  they 
are  called  common  sized  trees.  Most  beautiful  sights  we 
saw  on  arriving  at  the  summit  of  mountains,  over  6,000 
feet  high — we  could  see  over  100  miles  to  the  westward  ; 
and  after  passing  through  and  down  a  beautiful  grove  of 
large  trees,  we  came  in  sight  of  Big  Tree  Station,  where 
we  remained  over  Sunday.  The  hotel  is  in  the  woods, 
alongside  of  the  north  fork  of  the  Merced  River  that 
runs  through  Yosemite  Valley.  We  found  this  a  splendid 
spot  to  stop  over  Sunday.  We  have  trout  at  each  meal, 
caught  from  the  mountain  streams  in  this  neighborhood. 
u  Mine  host"  is  trying  to  make  it  pleasant  for  us,  and 
we  have  all  that  can  be  desired  of  a  hotel  in  the  woods  ; 


118 

his  name  is  Washburne,  one  of  the  owners  of  the  stage 
line  that  runs  to  the  Valley. 

Sunday,  May  13th.  This  day  of  rest  is  not  thought 
much  of  here  in  the  woods,  and  the  people  are  far  from 
any  churches,  schools,  or  religious  training,  and  the  only 
thing  they  seem  to  care  about  is  how  to  make  money  off 
the  traveler.  Work  of  all  kinds  is  carried  on  the  same  as 
other  days  of  the  week.  One  would  think  that  the  peo 
ple  here,  situated  as  they  are  in  the  midst  of  God' s  beau 
ties,  in  the  very  mountains  on  every  side,  would  be  in 
clined  to  religious  thought  and  action,  but  they  very 
soon  forget  about  God  and  his  works,  and  only  strive 
hard  for  the  "  'mighty  dollar." 

During  the  day  it  tried  to  rain,  but  it  failed,  and  now 
it  has  cleared  off,  and  our  party  are  trying  to  amuse 
themselves  the  best  way  that  they  can.  Just  now  three 
men  had  a  race.  As  they  were  running  down  the  lane  a 
big  dog  ran  after  them  and  tripped  up  one  of  them,  and 
over  he  went,  rolling  in  the  dust ;  the  dog  made  the  best 
time,  and  we  all  had  a  good  laugh. 

May  14th,  at  8  A.  M.,  our  party  started  for  the  big  trees 
in  Mariposa  Grove,  about  six  miles  from  our  hotel.  We 
were  obliged  to  go  on  horseback,  as  they  had  no  other  mode 
of  conveyance  ;  no  wagon  road  has  ever  been  cut  through 
the  mountains  to  these  trees,  nothing  but  a  trail  to  follow 
after,  and  so  we  started — two  guides,  one  ahead,  and  the 
other  in  the  rear  of  our  party,  which  consists  of  eight 
travelers,  a  boy,  two  guides,  making  a  total  of  eleven 
persons  on  horseback,  in  Indian  file,  as  there  was  not 
room  enough  for  two  horses  to  walk  abreast. 

Some  of  our  party  had  never  been  on  horseback  before, 
but  the  guides  took  good  care  of  us,  and  after  some  prac 
ticing  in  the  yard  at  the  hotel,  we  all  took  the  trail  for 
the  big  trees.  Now  we  passed  through  dense  forests  of 
very  large  trees,  so  they  appeared  to  us,  but  they  turned 
out  only  pigmies  to  what  we  saw  during  the  day  ;  in  these 
same  woods  are  also  found  wild  animals  of  various 
kinds,  such  as  the  bear,  wild-cat,  deer,  &c. 


119 

You  must  know  our  minds  were  mostly  how  to  keep 
on  our  mustangs,  or  from  falling  down  some  deep  decli 
vity,  and  also  to  keep  from  being  overhauled  by  some 
monster  of  the  forest ;  and  then  keep  in  mind  that  riding 
on  horseback  in  such  a  place  as  this — all  these  things 
put  together — I  tell  you,  we  had  our  hands  and  minds 
full  that  day.  It  took  us  until  eleven  o'clock  to  get  to 
the  big  trees.  And  such  a  sight ;  but  I  must  not  antici 
pate.  The  first  thing  in  order  was  to  have  our  lunch— 
the  guides  brought  that  with  them — and  in  a  short  time 
we  were  regaling  ourselves  and  preparing  for  the  work 
before  us.  We  are  now  7.64:0  feet  high,  well  up  in  the 
mountains,  and  no  mistake. 

Our  guides  give  us  the  proper  information  as  to  these 
trees.  There  are  some  700  of  them  in  this  place.  There  are 
a  number  of  groups  of  large  trees  in  California,  but  those 
in  Mariposa  Grove  are  among  the  largest.  The  largest  tree 
is  called  the  "  Grizzly  Giant ;"  the  next  one  is  called  La 
fayette  ;  then  comes  the  Twin  Sisters,  which  is  one  tree, 
but  which,  50  feet  from  the  ground,  separates  into  two 
branches  and  runs  up  about  200  feet  further.  The  next 
was  the  Keystone.  This  tree  was  burned  out  by  the  In 
dians  many  years  ago,  and  the  bottom  of  the  tree  was 
hollow ;  but  enough  was  left  on  the  outside  to  hold  the 
tree  up,  and  the  space  inside  was  all  hollow.  There  was 
eleven  of  us  on  horseback,  and  we  all  drove  into  this 
hollow  place,  and  after  getting  in  there  was  room  enough 
left  on  the  other  side  of  this  tree  for  half-a-dozen  horses 
more,  with  the.ir  drivers.  The  next  tree  was  blown  down, 
and  called  Andy  Johnson,  and  we  walked  upon  its  side 
over  250  feet  as  it  lay  there  ;  another  tree  also  was  down, 
and  hollow,  and  all  of  us  being  on  horseback,  the  guides 
took  the  lead,  and  we  followed  them  through  the  tree. 
Now  this  seems  to  you  a  big  story,  but  when  you  take  into 
consideration  that  these  trees  are  thirty  odd  feet  through 
in  diameter,  a  hole  20  feet  wide  would  leave  10  feet  of 
wood  and  bark  on  either  side  of  us,  and  of  course,  20 
feet  would  leave  more  room  than  was  necessary  for  us  to 
pass  through. 


120 

After  going  through  the  foregoing  tree,  we  all  alighted 
from  our  horses  and  passed  up  a  ladder  on  top  of  the  tree 
which  was  laying  on  its  side,  and  we  had  a  dance  right 
on  the  side  of  the  tree.  The  soft  bark  was  two  feet  thick, 
though  of  course,  it  made  a  nice  soft  spot  for  us  to 
dance  on.  We  next  come  to  a  tall  stump  of  a  tree,  about 
30  feet  high,  all  burned  out  inside,  so  we  could  look 
through  the  top  above.  This  stump  is  called  "Pluto's 
Chimney."  We  all  passed  into  the  hollow  of  this  stump, 
took  a  look  upwards  through  the  chimney,  and  turned 
around  and  drove  out  the  same  way  we  came  in.  Many 
of  these  trees  are  named  after  prominent  men,  and  a  mar 
ble  slab  is  nailed  to  each  tree  with  the  name  engraved 
thereon.  I  measured  some  eight  or  nine  of  these  trees 
with  some  cord,  and  I  found  that  the  largest  tree  was 
over  300  feet  high,  and  80  feet  tall  before  you  come  to  a 
limb,  and  the  first  limb  is  18  feet  in  thickness. 

It  costs  a  New  Yorker  as  much  to  see  the  big  trees  in 
California  as  it  does  to  see  Mont  Blanc  or  St.  Peter' s. 
The  shortest  route  from  San  Francisco  is  by  Merced,  139 
miles  eastward,  thence  by  Washburn  &  Bruce's  six-horse 
stages,  seventy-two  miles  up  through  Fremont's  old 
Mariposa  ranch,  and  over  the  snow-capped  Sierras  to  Big 
Tree  Station. 

Then  a  mule  trail  of  seven  miles  up  another  jag 
ged  side  of  the  Sierras,  and  we  stand  in  the  great 
Mariposa  Grove,  about  6,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  This  grove  contains  about  700  mammoth  trees, 
measuring  from  15  to  32  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  150  to 
225  feet  in  height.  The  car  and  stage  fare  from  San 
Francisco  to  the  big  Mariposa  trees  and  back  is  $45,  but 
it  takes  about  $100  to  pay  all  expenses.  But,  as  with 
Niagara  and  the  Pyramids,  you  feel  amply  compensated, 
even  if  you  have  paid  $100  for  a  single  look.  How  large 
are  these  trees  '{  Before  me  now  is  the  ' '  Grizzly  Giant. " 
It  measures  93  feet  in  circumference  and  31  feet  in  diame 
ter.  Sixty-four  feet  from  the  ground  shoots  out  the  first 
limb,  which  is  18  feet  in  diameter.  Its  very  limbs 


121 

are  as  large  as  the  large  forest  trees  that  surround  it. 
The  Grizzly  Giant  stands  among  trees  as  a  man  thirty 
feet  high  would  stand  among  men.  To  illustrate  :  Sup 
pose  in  the  midst  of  the  Senate  Chamber  should  stand  up 
Roscoe  Conkling,  30  feet  high  ;  suppose  from  his  right 
shoulder  should  hang  Elaine,  and  from  his  left  Morton, 
and  on  them  should  stick  Sam  Cox  and  Fernando  Wood 
as  fingers,  with  Ben  Butler  and  the  warlike  Watterson 
as  thumbs  ;  suppose  Dudley  Field  were  doubled  into  a 
nose,  and  Abram  Hewitt  and  Don  Cameron  were 
twisted  into  ears,  and  Minister  Evarts,  the  everlasting 
talker,  mounted  as  a  tongue ;  then  suppose  Sam  Bowles 
and  Halstead,  and  Bob'  Ingersol  and  Stewart  L.  Wood- 
ford,  were  pounded  up  for  that  man' s  brains  ;  then  sup 
pose,  when  the  giant  stood  up,  his  head  should  raise  the 
Senate  roof  and  stand  along- side  the  dome  of  the  Capi 
tol,  and  reach  out  Sam  Cox  and  Fernando  Wood  fingers 
and  shake  hands  with  the  colossal  statue  of  Liberty. 
If  you  should  see  that  in  Washington,  you  would  have 
some  idea  how  the  Grizzly  Giant  here  in  the  Sierras 
looks  down  on  the  oaks  and  pines,  which  grow  like 
weeds  at  his  feet — 

The  giant  trees,  in  silent  majesty, 

Like  pillars  stand  'neath  heaven's  mighty  dome  ; 

'T would  seem  that,  perched  upon  their  topmost  branch, 

With  outstretched  finger,  man  might  touch  the  stars. 

It  was  estimated  by  a  lumber  merchant  to-day  that  one 
of  the  big  trees,  "  The  Mother  of  the  Forest,"  contains 
537,000  feet  of  lumber.  This,  at  $40  per  thousand,  would 
be  worth  $21,480.  This  tree  is  320  feet  high  and  137  feet 
to  the  first  limb.  The  bark  is  twelve  inches  thick,  and 
the  tree  is  86  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base,  and  43 
feet  in  circumference  70  feet  from  the  base. 

In  the  Calaveras  Grove  five  men  worked  twenty-two 
days  boring  a  tree  down  with  pump  augurs.  After 
boring  the  tree  until  every  fiber  was  severed,  it  still  stood 
upright.  To  fell  it  two  days  were  spent  with  ropes 
and  wedges  driven  in  with  the  butts  of  trees.  Finally 


122 

the  grand  old  monarch  fell,  after  standing  the  blasts  of 
3,000  years.  Then  they  smoothed  off  the  stump,  and  on 
the  Fourth  of  July  thirty-two  persons  danced  on  it.  Our 
party,  consisting  of  about  fifteen,  chased  around  on  this 
stump,  but  to  me  it  was  with  a  painful  feeling.  It  was 
like  dancing  around  the  tomb  of  the  dead  Napoleon. 
Yes,  like  dancing  on  the  fallen  monument  to  a  dead  god. 
This  stump  is  28  feet  across — three  feet  wider  than  a 
New  York  building  lot — and  sound  to  the  center.  It 
would  take  sixty-four  yards  of  carpet  to  cover  it.  This 
tree  was  302  feet  high,— higher  than  the  dome  of  the 
Capitol  or  than  Trinity  steeple. 

The  Father  of  the  Forest  is  another  grand  old  fallen 
monarch.  This  tree  fell  many  years  ago.  It  was  375 
feet  high  and  28  feet  thick.  It  being  hollow  we  rode  oar 
horses  into  its  hollow  trunk  82  feet.  The  height  of  the 
horseback  entrance  is  10  feet ;  the  diameter  of  the  trunk 
150  feet  from  the  roots  is  10  feet  4  inches. 

In  the  Mariposa  Grove  we  came  to  a  large  hollow  tree 
called  the  Keystone.  Eight  of  us  rode  our  horses  through 
it  at  one  time.  It  had  been  burnt  out,  and  lived  in  by  the 
Indians,  but  still  looked  fresh  and  vigorous  at  the  top. 

In  the  South  Park  Grove  our  party  all  disappeared  in 
a  big  tree  called  the  "  Grand  Hotel,"  the  hollow  trunk 
of  which  will  hold  forty  persons.  Near  by  is  Noah's 
Ark,  now  fallen,  but  which  measures  90  feet  in  circum 
ference,  and  320  feet  in  length,  and  just  beyond  is  an 
unnamed  tree,  in  the  hollow  of  which  16  horses  can 
stand. 

How  many  of  these  big  trees  are  there  ? 

There  are  in  California,  within  25  miles  of  the  Yose- 
mite  Valley,  five  groves  of  these  big  trees.  The  Calaveras 
Grove,  north  of  the  Yosemite,  contains  94  trees ;  the 
South  Park  Grove,  six  miles  nearer  the  Yosemite,  con 
tains  1,380  trees,  from  10  to  90  feet  in  circumference. 
The  Tuolumne  Grove  contains  30  trees,  and  the  Mariposa 
700,  making  the  total  number  of  big  trees  (Sequoia 
gigantea)  in  existence  in  the  world  2,214. 


123 

Will  the  number  of  big  trees  increa.se  ? 

There  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not,  although  I  find 
only  a  few  young  ones  growing.  The  fires  run  through 
the  woods  every  year,  and  this  undoubtedly  kills  the 
little  trees.  The  seed  from  the  big  trees  can  be  easily 
gathered.  Indeed,  I  gathered  perhaps  500  seeds  and  sent 
them  to  friends  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

To  what  species  does  the  big  tree  belong  ? 

No  similar  tree  is  found  elsewhere.  It  more  closely 
resembles  the  common  American  cedar,  such  as  grows  in 
the  swamps  between  Syracuse  and  Utica,  than  any  other 
tree.  In  the  same  soil,  a  sandy  loam,  grow  in  number 
less  millions,  gigantic  pines,  yellow  and  white.  Many  of 
them  are  7  feet  in  diameter  and  60  feet  to  a  limb.  The 
common  balsam  or  fir,  such  as  grows  from  4  to  30  inches 
in  diameter  in  New  York,  also  grow  here  6  and  7  feet  in 
diameter  and  225  feet  high,  and  the  hop-pole  cedar,  which 
never  gets  beyond  30  inches  in  diameter  in  New  York, 
here  grows  to  8  feet  in  diameter,  with  a  ragged  bark, 
which  one  can  hardly  distinguish  from  the  Sequoia 
gig antea.  The  red  wood  trees  which  grow  down  on  the 
California  coast  to  10  feet  in  diameter,  also  closely  re 
semble  the  big  trees. 

How  old  are  these  trees  ? 

1  counted  the  concentric  rings  on  the  stump  of  a  big- 
tree — and  all  botanists  agree  that  each  ring  represents  a 
year's  growth — and  they  numbered  3,840,  so  the  tree  was 
3,840  years  old.  We  find  many  big  trees,  from  1,500  to 
4,000  years  old. 

The  altitude  of  the  big  trees  makes  them  grow  in  al 
most  perpetual  snow.  On  the  15th  of  May,  when  we  could 
see  them  cradling  their  wheat  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley, 
the  frosty  winds 'howled  through  the  big  trees,  the  frozen 
sleet  frosted  the  limbs  of  the  big  trees,  and  we  defiled 
our  horses  down  the  jagged  mountain  side  toward  the 
Yosemite  in  a  foot  of  snow.  There  is  so  much  to  tell  you 
about  these  wonderful  monarchs  of  the  forest  that  I 
hardly  know  where  to  stop  ;  but  I  have  much  yet  to  in- 


124 

form  you  of,  and  so  we  will  leave  these  trees  and  start  for 
the  Big  Tree  Station,  where  we  arrive  at  5  P.  M.,  very  tired 
and  lame,  riding  on  horseback,  but  feeling  well  pleased 
with  the  day's  sight-seeing. 

May  loth.  This  day  our  little  party  started  a  six-horse 
coach  for  the  Yosemite  Valley,  only  24  miles  from  here. 
The  night  of  the  14th  it  had  rained  and  snowed,  and  on 
the  next  morning  we  found  the  hills  covered  with  snow. 
One  thing  certain,  we  were  not  to  be  troubled  with  dust 
this  day,  but  we  found  it  very  cold,  wet  and  raw,  and  we 
were  obliged  to  put  on  extra  wraps.  At  one  time  we 
were  over  8,000  feet  high.  We  passed  through  immense 
forests  of  pine,  cedar,  and  other  kinds  of  trees,  and  over 
high  mountains  and  down  into  deep  dells,  and  at  one 
time  four  deer  crossed  our  path.  Frank  tried  to  get  a 
crack  at  them  with  his  34  shooting  iron,  but  like  other 
hunters  that  we  wot  of,  when  he  was  ready  to  shoot  the 
game  was  out  of  range,  for  which  I  was  very  glad. 

After  a  tedious  ride,  we  at  last  came  in  sight  of  the 
wonderful  valley  at  "  Inspiration  Point." 

We  were  going  down  a  steep  declivity,  when  suddenly 
there  arose  a  shout  from  our  little  party.  Every  ear  was 
open,  and  every  eye  was  too — and  such  a  shout  as  we 
gave,  I  knew  that  the  valley  had  revealed  itself  to  our 
vision.  We  got  out,  and  bent  our  steps  to  a  prominent 
point,  and  I  crawled  upon  the  overhanging  rocks,  over 
4,000  feet,  right  straight  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  val 
ley.  In  all  my  life,  let  it  lead  me  where  it  will,  I  think  I 
shall  never  see  anything  so  grand,  so  awful,  so  sublime, 
so  beautiful ! — beautiful  with  beauty,  not  of  this  earth, 
as  the  vision  of  this  valley  seen  by  us  from  "Inspiration 
Point"  that  day. 

It  is  now  over  nine  months  since  we  were  there,  and 
yet  not  a  day  passes  over  my  head  but  that  I  think  of  it, 
and  I  could  have  remained  there  until  now.  My  opinion 
is  that  I  can  travel  over  every  spot  on  this  globe,  but  will 
never  see  anything  that  can  be  compared  to  it.  I  brought 
the  picture  of  it  with  me,  and  I  have  only  to  shut  my 


125 

eyes  and  I  see  it  as  I  saw  it  then,  in  that  hour  of  hours  ; 
I  think  I  shall  see  nothing  else  so  sublime  and  beautiful 
till,  happily,  I  shall  stand  within  the  gates  of  the  heavenly 
city  above.  But  we  are  some  distance  yet  from  our  hotel. 
However  enchanting  this  spot  is,  we  must  not  linger  here 
too  long  ;  but  as  the  driver  calls  us  away,  then  away  we 
go,  take  our  seats,  and  off  we  go  down  a  deep  declivity 
into  the  valley  below.  Many  times  since  my  return 
home  have  I  thought  of  my  position  on  the  end  of  that 
high  rock  at  Inspiration  Point,  and  I  have  as  often  shut 
my  eyes,  and  in  imagination  looked  again  out  from  that 
point. 

Many  persons  have  tried  to  tell  their  neighbors  just 
how  they  felt  while  standing  at  Inspiration  Point  the  first 
time,  and  different  expressions  have  been  used  in  giving 
vent  to  their  thoughts.  As  for  me,  I  felt  lost  in  wonder, 
love  and  praise. 

The  remarks  of  our  little  party  were  curious.  The 
words  were  not  many.  Some  said  next  to  nothing,  but 
kept  drinking  in  the  beauties  and  wonders  before 
them ;  others  were  exclaiming  oh !  continually,  and 
as  we  proceeded  down  the  very  steep  road,  at  times, 
a  general  unanimous  "Oh!  oh!"  and  "look  there," 
4 '  aint  that  nice  ?' '  and  other  words  of  praise  com 
ing  from  all  of  us,  as  the  sight  of  some  peculiar  rock 
or  sheet  of  water  would  first  strike  our  attention.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  where  we  were  going  down  is  a  high 
rock,  3,300  feet  high,  called  the  "Le  Capitain."  This 
rock  is  actually  perpendicular  in  front.  It  commands 
our  attention  until  we  get  down  into  the  valley,  when  our 
attention  was  called  to  a  stream  of  water  (on  our  right, 
opposite  to  uLe  Capitain")  coming  over  the  rocks,  and 
appeared  as  if  we  were  right  under  it.  It  is  called  the 
Bridal  Veil  Falls,  950  feet  high.  The  stream  is  not  very 
large,  and  when  the  wind  blows  against  this  fall  the  water 
is  blown  in  every  direction,  and  is  very  misty,  and  resem 
bles  a  bridal  veil  hanging  from  a  bride' s  forehead. 

You,  who  have  been  to  Niagara  Falls,  recollect  how 


126 

very  high  it  looks  when  you  are  down  near  the  bottom  of 
the  Falls.  Well,  just  compare  the  Bridal  Veil  Falls 
with  those  at  Niagara — one  190  feet  high,  and  the  other 
950  feet,  five  times  greater.  But  it  is  near  5  p.  M.,  and 
we  are  all  complaining  of  being  very  hungry,  so  we  hurry 
up,  and  after  passing  through  pretty  near  the  whole 
length  of  the  valley,  we  stop  at  our  hotel,  called  the 
"  Yosemite  Falls  Hotel,"  kept  by  Mr.  John  K.  Barnard. 
This  hotel  is  built  (at  least  one  end  of  it  is)  over  a  river 
called  the  Merced.  A  neat  tidy  hotel  it  is. 

After  resting  a  while,  I  started  with  my  family  for  the 
Yosemite  Falls,  directly  opposite  to  the  hotel  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  We  wandered  up  over  rocks  and  falls 
of  water,  crossed  over  on  logs,  and  finally  brought  up  at 
the  foot  of  the  Yosemite  Falls,  2,634  feet  high,  fourteen 
times  as  high  as  Niagara.  Now  just  imagine  another 
falls,  just  fourteen  times  as  high  as  old  Niagara,  and  by 
comparing  the  two,  you  will  fix  in  your  mind  how  high 
the  Yosemite  Falls  are.  After  viewing  this  wonderful 
sight  for  over  an  hour,  we  returned  to  our  hotel,  and  re 
tired  early  to  gain  strength  for  the  morrow' s  work. 

May  16.  This  was  a  rainy,  cloudy  day,  and  but  little 
sight-seeing  was  done  by  us,  on  account  of  the  fog  set 
tling  down  upon  us  like  a  pall.  In  the  afternoon  the  fog 
lifted  and  the  rain  ceased,  and  after  dinner,  we  took  a 
carriage  and  went  to  the  foot  of  the  Bridal  Veil  Falls, 
and  afterward  returned  home. 

I  noticed  at  our  hotel  there  was  a  fine  tree  growing 
right  up  through  the  roof,  in  the  parlor.  This  tree  is 
over  9  feet  in  diameter  and  over  30  feet  around — quite  an 
ornament  for  a  lady' s  parlor,  I  hear  you  say.  Well  that 
is  so,  and  it  is  one  of  the  sights  of  the  valley,  and  a  great 
curiosity  it  is  to  sight-seers. 

After  the  fatigue  and  excitement  of  the  day' s  ride,  and 
the  novel  circumstances  of  the  past  few  days,  it  is  natu 
ral  to  suppose  that  with  a  comfortable  bed  will  come  re 
freshing  sleep  ;  yet  experience  proves  the  contrary,  for  it 
seems  a  luxury  to  lie  awake  listening  to  the  sparkling, 


127 

washing,  roaring,  swaying,  hissing,  seething,  sound  of 
the  great  Yosemite  Falls  just  opposite  to  our  hotel,  or, 
passing  quietly  out  of  our  resting  place,  look  up  between 
the  lofty  pines  or  spreading  oaks  to  the  giant  cliffs,  that 
tower  up  with  such  majesty  of  form  and  boldness  of  out 
line  against  the  vast  ethereal  vault  of  heaven,  or  watch  in 
the  moonlight  the  ever-changing  shapes  and  shadows  of 
the  water,  as  it  lays  on  the  cloud-draped  summit  of  the 
mountains,  and  falls  in  gusty  torrents  on  the  unyield 
ing  granite,  to  be  dashed  to  infinity  of  atoms ;  then  we 
return  to  our  welcome  couch,  and  dream  of  some  genius 
of  immense  proportions  extending  over  us  his  protecting 
arms,  and  of  his  admonishing  the  water-fall  to  modulate 
the  music  of  its  voice  that  we  may  sleep  and  be  refreshed. 

May  17.  Sometime  before  the  sun  can  get  a  good 
honest  square  look  at  us,  deep  down  as  we  are  in  this 
awful  chasm,  we  see  him  painting  his  rosy  smiles  on  the 
ridges  and  shadows  in  the  furrows  of  the  mountains' 
brow,  as  though  he  took  a  pride  i;i  showing  up  to  the 
best  advantage  the  wrinkles  time  had  made  upon  it ;  but 
all  of  us  feel  too  fatigued  to  fully  enjoy  the  thrilling 
grandeur  and  beauty  that  surrounds  us,  and  so  we  sleep 
on,  taking  our  rest,  until  we  are  awakened  by  the  ringing 
of  the  breakfast  bell.  We  jump  up,  dress  ourselves  very 
quickly,  and  are  down  at  our  breakfast  in  a  very  short 
time.  After  breakfast  we  consult  our  guides,  and  a  plan 
for  the  day  is  mapped  out. 

We  take  another  trip  to  the  Yosemite  Falls.  High 
boulders  and  large  masses  of  sharp  angular  rocks  are 
scattered  here  and  there,  forming  the  uneven  sides  of  an 
immense  and  apparently  over-boiling  caldron,  around 
and  in  the  interstices  of  which  numerous  dwarf  ferns, 
weeds,  grasses  and  flowers  are  ever  growing.  It  is  beyond 
the  power  of  language  to  describe  the  awe-inspiring  ma 
jesty  of  the  darkly  frowning  and  overhanging  mountain 
walls  of  solid  granite  that  here  hem  us  in  on  every  side, 
as  though  they  would  threaten  us  with  instantaneous  de 
struction,  if  not  total  annihilation,  did  we  attempt  for  a 


128 

moment  to  deny  their  power.  If  man  ever  feels  his  utter 
insignificance  at  any  time,  it  is  when  looking  upon  such 
a  scene  of  appalling  grandeur  as  the  one  here  presented. 

After  lingering  here  for  some  time,  with  inexpressible 
feelings  of  astonishment  and  delight,  gratified  and  inten 
sified  by  veneration,  we  take  a  long  and  reluctant  last 
gaze  upward,  convinced  that  we  shall  never  look  upon  its 
like  again,  we  make  our  way  back  as  best  we  can  to  our 
hotel,  feeling  as  if  we  had  lost  a  friend. 

Our  guide  announces  that  the  coach  is  waiting  to  take 
us  to  Mirror  Lake.  Much  of  the  beauty  of  this  lake 
consists  in  its  reflection  of  its  glorious  surroundings, 
mountains  4,000  to  5,000  feet  high  all  around  the  lake. 
It  is  desirable  to  start  for  the  lake  at  an  early  hour ; 
sometimes  the  unbroken  calm  of  its  glassy  bosom  is  not 
disturbed  before  noon,  at  other  times  the  breeze  has 
broken  it  up  by  10  o'clock,  but  generally  the  mirror  is 
perfect  until  nearly  noon.  The  distance  from  the  hotel 
to  the  lake  is  only  three  miles. 

On  arriving  at  the  lake  we  find  it  in  perfect  order  ;  and 

oh h,  such  a  sight ! — man  never  saw  anywhere  else 

anything  like  it.  It  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  valley, 
surrounded  as  it  is  on  all  sides  by  very  high  mountains, 
the  reflections  of  which  can  be  seen  so  plainly  in  the 
water — each  tree,  branch,  shrub,  twig  and  leaf,  can  be 
seen  reflected  so  plainly. 

After  remaining  at  the  lake  long  enough  to  see  all  the 
sights  connected  with  the  mirror-lake,  we  retraced  our 
steps  back  to  the  hotel  again.  But  let  me  describe  this 
beautiful  sheet  of  crystal  water  of  almost  two  acres  in 
extent,  in  which  numerous  schools  of  speckled- trout  may 
be  seen  gaily  disporting  themselves  ;  it  would  be  unworthy 
of  notice  but  for  the  picturesque  grandeur  of  its  surround 
ings.  On  the  north  and  west  sides  lie  immense  rocks  that 
have  become  detached  from  the  tops  of  the  mountains 
above.  Among  these  grow  a  large  variety  of  trees  and 
shrubs,  many  of  which  stand  on  and  over  the  margin  of  the 
lake,  and  are  reflected  on  its  mirror-like  bosom.  To  the 


129 

northwest  opens  a  vast  gorge  or  canon,  down  which  impe 
tuously  rush  the  waters  of  the  north  fork  of  the  Merced 
River,  which  runs  into  and  supplies  the  lake.  On  the 
south-east  stands  the  majestic  Mount  Lis-sa-ak,  or  the 
South  Dome,  as  it  is  most  generally  called,  6,000  feet 
high  above  the  valley.  Almost  half  of  this  immense 
mass  of  solid  rock,  as  it  appears  to  us,  either  from  some 
convulsion  of  nature,  or  time' s  effacing  fingers,  has  fallen 
over,  by  which  most  probably  the  dam  of  Mirror  Lake 
was  first  formed  ;  yet,  proudly  and  defiantly  erect,  this 
great  mass  of  rocks  still  holds  its  noble  head,  and  is  not 
only  the  highest  of  all  those  around,  but  is  the  greatest 
attraction  of  the  valley. 

We  are  back  at  our  hotel  again,  and  are  preparing  our 
selves  to  go  on  "horseback  to  the  Yernal  and  the  Nevada 
Falls ;  but,  before  we  start,  I  wish  to  introduce  you  to  a 
great  rock,  back  of  our  hotel,  called  the  Sentinel  Rock, 
4,000  feet  high,  a  lofty  and  solitary  peak  by  itself,  upon 
which  the  watch  fires  of  the  Indians  have  often  been 
lighted  to  give  warning  of  approaching  danger,  and 
which  can  be  seen  from  all  the  principal  points  within 
and  around  the  valley. 

It  is  now  10  A.  M.  The  guide  gives  the  word  to  ad 
vance,  and  as  we  are  now  all  on  horseback,  the  guide  is 
ahead,  and  we  follow  on  after.  Oh,  I  wish  you  could 
have  seen  us  as  we  passed  up  through  the  valley  in  In 
dian  file,  keeping  close  to  the  guide,  for  you  could  lose 
the  trail  very  easily  alone,  and  so  we  all  make  love  to  our 
guide — and  I  notice  our  ladies  were  very  anxious  to  make 
his  acquaintance  —and  it  was  guide  here  and  guide  there  ; 
and  this  was  kept  up  most  of  the  time  as  we  were 
going  up  through  the  valley  to  the  falls  just  men 
tioned.  On  our  right  is  a  high  wall  of  granite,  nearly 
perpendicular,  4,000  feet  high,  called  the  Grlacier  Point, 
down  which  several  ribbon-like  streams  of  water  are  leap 
ing  ;  here  and  there,  from  the  sides  of  this  great  moun 
tain,  a  single  tree  or  shrub  is  standing  alone.  On  our  left 
stands  the  Royal  Arches,  2,000  feet  high,  Washington's 


130 

Tower,  say  5,000  feet  high  above  the  valley,  then  the 
North  Dome  and  South  Dome,  and  other  objects  to  be 
observed,  numerous  majestic  trees  overshadowing  the 
way ;  flowers  of  many  kinds  are  abundant,  such  as  the 
yellow  and  purple  evening  primrose,  the  larkspur,  and 
also  a  very  pretty  pink,  called  the  everlasting  ;  but,  to 
give  a  complete  list  of  all  the  roses  and  flowers,  would 
complete  a  volume. 

About  two  miles  above  our  hotel  we  arrive  at  and  con 
tinue  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Merced  River,  beneath 
a  bower  of  trees  and  shrubs,  over  the  roughest  portion 
of  the  trail.  Formerly  visitors  used  to  tie  their  horses 
here,  and  make  the  ascent  on  foot ;  but  some  recent  im 
provements  now  induce  visitors  to  ride  nearly  up  to  the 
Vernal  Falls.  On  our  left  the  river  forms  a  foaming  cata 
ract  to  the  very  foot  of  the  falls,  and  the  thundering  boom 
of  its  waters  rises  at  times  above  the  sound  of  human 
voices.  Upward  and  onward  we  climbed,  and  after  pass 
ing  a  bold  point,  called  the  Register- Rock,  we  obtain  sud 
denly  the  first  sight  of  Vernal  Falls  ;  the  Indian  name  is 
Li-roy-ock,  meaning  a  shower  of  sparkling  crystals. 
We  keep  on  climbing  onward  and  upward,  and  at  times 
very  steep  places,  until  we  are  at  Snow' s  Hotel,  under  the 
Cap-of- Liberty  mountain,  a  tremendous  rock ; — it  stands 
boldly  out  at  the  north  side  of  Nevada  Falls.  This 
great  rock  is  nearly  7,000  feet  high. 

After  dismounting  we  proceeded  to  the  hotel,  kept 
by  a  Mrs.  Snow,  formerly  from  Vermont ;  this  lady  sets 
a  splendid  table  for  her  visitors  ;  but  she  is  in  a  state  of 
intoxication  pretty  much  all  the  while,  and  in  that  state 
she  tried  to  make  it  pleasant  for  us  ;  her  dough  nuts  and 
pumpkin  pies  are  spoken  of  as  the  very  best  ever  made 
by  a  Vermonter,  and  while  we  praise  her  cooking  and 
the  good  dough-nuts,  and  the  splendid  table  she  sets,  we 
must  enter  our  protest  against  her  trying  to  ape  drunken 
men's  actions.  Well,  after  our  lunch,  we  strolled  around 
seeing  the  sights  presented  to  our  view  from  every  side. 
This  hotel  is  situated  between  the  Nevada  and  the  Vernal 


131 

Falls.     On  our  left,  directly  in  front  of  the  hotel,  is  Ne 
vada  Falls,  700  feet  high,  and  right  directly  in  the  rear  of 
this  hotel  is  the  Vernal,  some  400  feet  high — the  two 
falls — the  waters  falling  some  1,100  feet ;  and  on  our  im 
mediate  left  is  the  Cap  of  Liberty,  a  great  mass  of  rock 
or  mountain,  where  man  seldom,  if  ever,  has  placed  his 
foot.     And,  to  our  right,  another  mountain,  still  higher, 
looming  up  into  the  air.    Now,  I  think,  I  have  given  you 
a  pretty  clear  idea  of  our  position ;  and   after  a  good 
rest,  the  guide  took  the  horses  down  the  way  we  came 
up,    into   the  bottom   of  the   mountain  valley,  and  we 
started  to  follow  the  river  down  the  steep  and  precipitous 
way  winding  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  canon,  where  we 
would  find  the  guide  and  horses  waiting  for  us.     Well, 
we  started  down  one  of  the  most  hazardous  and  danger-, 
ous  trails  ever  traveled  by  w^oman,  and  I  might  say  also 
by  man.     On  arriving  at  the  top  of  the  lower  fall — the 
Vernal — there  we  were  some  400  feet  above  the  bottom  of 
it.     How  to  get  down  we  did  not  know  ;  but  on  looking 
around  under  a  high  rock  we  spied  a  path  leading  to  a 
pair  of  stairs,   very  steep,  almost  perpendicular,   down 
which  we  picked  our  way,  placing  our  feet  firmly  in  the 
right  position,  we,  as  it  were,  felt  our  way  down  those 
difficult  stairs.     The  men  of  our  company  had  but  little 
trouble,  but  the  ladies  were  not  so  well  blessed,  for  their 
skirts  were  in  the  way  continually  ;  but  they  were  dressed 
pretty  much  after  the  Bloomer  costume,  and,  for  a  woman, 
each  one  did  first  rate;  and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or 
so  we  finally  landed  safe  and  sound -at  the  foot  of  the 
falls,  down  where  we  found  the  guide  with  our  horses 
waiting  for  us.     So  far  as  myself  was  concerned,  I  had 
not  a  dry  thread  on  me.     I  had  a  short  rope  with  me — 
my  wife  had  hold  of  one  end,  while  I  was  at  the  other ; 
we  manged  to  get  down  very  well,  although  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  rope  saved  our  lives  more  than 
once.    We  had  a  good  rest,  and  then  mounted  our  beasts 
and  started  for  our  homes,  very  tired,  but  very  thankful  for 
the  sight-seeing  and  for  our  safe  arrival  at  our  hotel,  for 


132 

it  did  appear  as  if  some  of  us  would  lose  our  lives  before 
we  should  get  back  again. 

May  18th.     This  day  six  of  us  went  to  Glacier  Point ; 
and  this  trip  was  done  on  horseback  also.     You  see  our 
little  party  is  still  less  than  yesterday  ;   but  our  sight 
seeing  was  too  much  yesterday,  and  so  to-day  they  are 
at  the  hotel  viewing  the  sights,  while  we  are  trying  to  go 
up  a  perpendicular  rock,  on  a  trail  cut  right  into  the  side 
of  the  rock  ;  and  as  we  commenced  to  ascend  and  look 
around,  we  noticed  two  or  three  other  companies  of  men 
and  women  winding  up  this  terribly  steep  ascent.     After 
a  tedious  ride,  we  at  last  come  to  a  place  where  we  dis 
mount  and  take  a  rest,  and  as  we  are  the  first  up  at 
Union  Point,  we  watch  the  other  travelers  coming  up, 
and  try  to  make  out  who  they  all  are.    The  first  party  is 
Chaplain  McCabe  and  his  friends  ;  we  have  a  good  shake 
of  hands  with  the  chaplain,  and  we  are  introduced  to  his 
friends.     Pretty  soon  another  announcement  is  made, 
Frank  Leslie  and  his  friends  arrive  at  Union  Point.    The 
horses  are  all  taken  care  of  by  the  guides,  and  a  general 
hand-shake  all   around  takes  place  among  the  friends 
thrown  together  at  this  peculiar  place,  of  about  one  acre 
of  level  land  and  rock.     On  counting  the  entire  number, 
we  find  30  horses  waiting  for  the  guests  to  mount,  and, 
after  being  rested,  we  all  started  on  the  final  route  for 
Glacier  Point.    As  we  were  the  first  to  arrive  at  Union 
Point,  we  were  the  first  to  mount  and  start  ahead.     On 
looking  back,  after  we  all  had  got  under  weigh,  the  sight 
was  splendid  !  wonderful !  Thirty  horses  and  riders  grop 
ing  their  way  up  the  mountain  sides  was  a  sight  not  often 
seen  even  here,  and  it  left  a  peculiar  sensation  that  I  shall 
never  forget.     We  at  last  arrived  at  Glacier  Point,  over 
4.000  feet  high,  and,  before  looking  around,  we  came  to 
the  conclusion  of  having  our  dinner.     We  found,  away 
up  here,  a  building  put  up  for  refreshments.     We  had 
our  dinner,  and  then  started  out  for  sight- seeing.     We 
started  for  the  place  where  the  whole  valley  can  be  seen 
with  one  sweep  of  the  eye.     Before  looking  down,  let  me 


133 

call  your  attention  to  a  somewhat  noticeable  projecting 
point  that  is  seen  from  our  hotel  below,  apparently  ex 
tending  out  some  three  or  four  feet,  but  we  find— when 
standing  near  to  it  to-day — to  be  over  30  feet  beyond  the 
wall.  Some  time  ago  a  photographer  stood  on  the  end 
of  this  rock  projecting  out,  and  took  a  splendid  view  of 
the  valley,  and  its  surroundings. 

Now  let  us  advance  to  the' edge  of  this  awful  precipice  ; 
we  can  steady  ourselves  by  holding  on  to  the  large  rock 
at  our  side,  or  we  can  lie  down  on  the  great  rock  on  which 
we  stand,  having  some  one  to  hold  us  by  our  feet  while 
we  slide  out  to  its  utmost  edge.  It  may  make  us  a  little 
nervous  perhaps,  the  first  time,  but  taking  all  necessary 
precautions,  we  shall  find  it  unaccompanied  by  any  real 
danger  ;  and  we  shall  certainly  never  regret  that  our  cou 
rage  was  equal  to  the  task  of  one  good  look  at  least  into 
such  an  awful  abyss.  And  oh  !  such  a  sight ;  man  never 
looked  on  before  in  any  other  place  on  this  globe  like  it, 
over  4,000  feet  in  height,  straight  up  and  down,  perpen 
dicular  indeed,  into  the  valley  below.  The  greatest  art 
ists  have  invariably  failed  in  photographing  depth  from 
a  high  stand- point,  and  we  do  not  know  of  any  writer 
being  more  successful  than  the  artist.  We  wish  for  our 
friends,  who  are  not  here  to  see  with  their  own  eyes,  that 
the  coming  man  had  arrived  who  could  do  this  which 
has  not  been  accomplished  by  any  man  as  yet.  Under 
these  circumstances  we  are  willing,  with  our  common 
place  eyes,  to  try  to  tell  you  what  we  saw :  Large  trees, 
over  200  feet  high,  sink  into  utter  insignificance  ;  the  lit 
tle  checkerboard -like  spot,  first  noticed  in  Mr.  Lemon's 
apple  orchard,  and  contains  over  500  trees  20  feet  apart ; 
the  bright  speck,  which  throws  out  its  silver  light  in  that 
deep  tree-dotted  canon,  is  Mirror  Lake,  while  that  South 
Dome  overshadows  every  lesser  wonder,  and  towers  aloft 
a  little  on  our  right ;  then  comes  the  North  Dome  ;  clouds 
rest  on  Cap  of  Liberty  ;  Mount  Star- King,  Yosemite  Falls, 
and  other  prominent  objects  here  visible,  would  have  their 
due  effect,  but  although  at  this  height  and  position,  they 


134 

differ  altogether  in  outline,  the  South  Dome  stands  king 
over  all ;  on  the  right  of  this  monarch,  in  the  deep  gorge 
of  the  river,  the  magnificent  Nevada  Fall,  Diamond  Flume 
and  Apron,  Vernal  Fall,  and  the  foaming  cataract  of  the 
Nevada  Fall  and  Merced  River,  all  flash  out  their  silver 
light,  while  mountains,  piled  on  mountains  in  every  con 
ceivable  shape,  stand  grandly  on  every  side  ;  and  on  our 
left,  as  we  look  down  the  valley,  the  first  high  rock, 
standing  out  very  plain,  and  called  the  Sentinel  Dome  ; 
this  dome  is  near  4,000  feet  high,  and  had  it  been  scalped 
by  some  tornado,  it  could  have  scarcely  shown  less  vege 
tation,  for,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  stunted 
trees,  there  is  scarcely  a  vestige  of  a  thing  living  upon  it. 
On  the  side  opposite  to  us,  in  the  distance,  are  some  very 
high  peaks  of  mountains  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  range, 
that  can  be  seen  very  plainly  from  this  stand-point.  Let 
me  enumerate  some  of  them — I  see  them  now :  Mount 
Hoffman,  10,872  feet  high  ;  Cathedral  Peak,  11,000  feet 
high  ;  Mount  Dana,  13,227  feet  high  ;  Mount  Lyall,  12,270 
Castle  Peak,  12,500  feet  high;  Gothic  Peak,  10,850  feet 
high  ;  Mount  Star-King,  9,600  feet  high  ;  Dome,  10,000  feet 
high,  and  numerous  other  peaks  are  seen  very  high,  but 
I  forget  their  names.  Did  time  permit  we  might  very 
probably  tarry  here  for  days,  as  new  beauties  would  be 
opening  and  strange  forms  made  manifest  on  every  side. 
But  there  is  so  much  to  tell  you  about  what  we  saw  and 
witnessed  here  to-day,  and  our  time  is  passing  away  so 
rapidly,  that  you  will  please  excuse  our  haste  for  the 
rapid  decline  of  the  sun  in  the  west  reminds  us  of  return 
ing  ;  so  let  us  not  attempt  the  danger  of  going  down  that 
awful  trail  in  the  dark,  but  let  us  start  now.  But  I  wish 
to  say  that  Frank  Leslie  had  his  photographer  and 
sketcher  along,  and  all  day  long  they  were  kept  busy  in 
sketching  and  photographing  whatever  might  fall  in  their 
way  ;  Mrs.  Gregory  and  my  ,wife  are  sketched  lying  on 
the  rock  looking  over  into  that  awful  abyss ;  Mrs.  Gre 
gory  is  represented  as  holding  on  to  my  wife's  skirts  to 
keep  her  from  falling  4,000  feet  below,  while  they  were 


185 

placed  in  that  position.  You,  who  take  that  paper, 
"  Frank  Leslie's  Illustrated,"  will  in  time  see  the  picture 
of  our  party  going  up  the  mountains  on  horseback,  and 
while  they  were  on  the  mountains,  as  I  stated  just  now. 

Well,  we  are  down  again  once  more  into  the  valley.  I 
was  the  only  one  of  our  party  who  stuck  to  his  mustang 
coming  down  that  perpendicular  hill,  all  of  the  others 
got  scared,  got  off,  a.nd  led  their  horses  down. 

Well,  here  we  are  at  our  hotel  once  more,  and  more 
than  thankful  that  we  have  escaped  the  seeming  danger 
of  breaking  our  necks.  A  few  notes  about  the  valley, 
river  views,  forest  openings,  rocky  points,  water -falls, 
heads  of  men  and  women,  outlined  in  shadows  on  water- 
stained  rocks,  and  right  upon  the  vertical  walls  of  gran 
ite,  with  numerous  other  objects  to  attract  and  interest, 
are  all  in  the  way  to  be  seen  through  this  wonderful  place. 

May  19th.  This  day  all  hands  started  for  the  back 
track  again  to  San  Francisco,  and  at  6  o'clock,  A.  M.,  our 
party,  of  eight  persons,  took  one  of  Washburn's  stages 
and  started  down  the  valley  to  go  up  to  Inspiration  Point, 
and,  as  we  arrive  at  this  place,  we  stop  to  have  one  more 
and  a  long  and  last  look  of  Yosemite  Valley.  After  a 
length  of  time,  winding  up  the  never-to-be-forgotten  road 
that  leads  into  the  valley,  Inspiration  Point  is  reached. 

There  is  a  saying,  that  k '  some  things  can  be  done  as 
well  as  others."  In  my  opinion,  a  full  description  of 
this  scene  is  not  one  of  them.  A  passage  in  the  good 
book  says:  "eye  hath  not  seen,  neither  hath  the  ear 
heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  con 
ceive,  what  there  is  laid  up  in  heaven  for  those  who  love 
and  serve  God."  Now,  without  wishing  to  detract  from 
the  interesting  assertion  there  so  graphically  pictured 
and  offered,  we  simply  wish  to  apply  the  language  to 
those  who  have  the  good  fortune  to  see  Yosemite  Valley 
from  this  stand-point ;  we  hope  so,  as  we  can  only  give 
a  few  plain  facts,  and  leave  you  to  do  the  sublime.  Re 
member  we  are  standing  on  a  precipice  of  4, 000  feet  high, 
the  whole  valley  and  its  surroundings  are  spread  out  be- 


136 

fore  us  like  a  map,  the  river  below  is  like  a  ribbon  of  sil 
ver,  seen  only  at  intervals  winding  among  trees,  the  trees 
themselves  resembling  mere  shrubs  ;  the  grand  old  sides 
and  proud  head  of  old  "  Le  Capitaine,"  looms  grandly 
upwards  ;  the  same  for  the  North  Dome,  and  the  clouds 
rest  on  the  Sentinel  Dome,  with  any  number  of  others. 

Just  let  me  run  over  the  principal  objects  that  can  be 
seen  from  Inspiration  Point,  just  where  we  are  now  :  the 
Kibbon,  a  fall  of  water  alongside  of  old  "  Le  Capitaine," 
3,300  feet  high;  Upper  Yosemite  Fall,  2,634  feet  high; 
Bride's  Veil  Fall,  950  feet  high  ;  Three  Brothers  Rocks, 
which  are  three  rocks,  one  projecting  over  the  other,  4,000 
feet  high  ;  Three  Grace's  Rocks,  3,750  high  ;  "  Le  Capi- 
tain"  Rock,  right  in  front  of  us,  3,300  feet  high  ;  Sentinel 
Rock,  3,720  feet  high;  the  Cathedral  Rock,  2,690  feet 
high  ;  Royal  Arches,  a  rock  1,800  feet  high  ;  Washington 
Tower,  2/200  feet  high;  Glacier  Point,  4,000  feet  high; 
North  Dome,  4,000  feet  high  ;  Cap  of  Liberty  Rock,  5,240 
feet  high  ;  South  Dome,  6,000  feet  high  ;  Vernal  Falls,  400 
feet  high  ;  Lower  Yosemite  Fall,  600  feet  high  ;  Nevada 
Falls,  700  feet  high  ;  and  the  Sentinel  Rock,  4,000  feet 
high.  There  are  many  more  objects  to  be  seen  and  to  be 
mentioned,  but  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  foregoing 
named  places  are  enough  to  fill  us  with  a  sense  of  awe  ! 
of  splendor  !  and  of  inspiration  !  And  this  is  why  this 
place  is  called  Inspiration  Point,  for  in  five  minutes  after 
leaving  here  we  lose  the  sight,  and  that  forever,  unless 
we  return  at  some  future  time  into  this  valley.  If  the 
storm  has  been  gathering,  perhaps  we  can  see  it  sweep 
down  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  drape  the  whole 
landscape  in  clouds.  At  times  the  whole  valley  is  filled 
with  them,  piled  layer  above  layer,  stratum  above  stra 
tum,  to  the  very  tops  of  the  mountains.  N  ow  Inspira 
tion  Point  stands  out  and  up  at  a  somewhat  greater  alti 
tude  than  most  of  the  foregoing- mentioned  objects,  and 
the  view  of  the  distant  Sierra  Nevadas  is  more  compre 
hensive.  The  general  view  of  both  being  similar,  there 
is  no  necessity  for  any  further  remarks,  therefore  let  us 


137 

enjoy  the  scene  in  peaceful  silence,  and  when  we  can  say 
"enough,"  let  us  depart  on  our  own  winding- way,  and 
then  dream  of  what  we  have  seen.  But  we  cannot  leave 
this  sacred  spot  (to  us  at  least)  until  we  have  given  you 
the  dimensions  of  it :  The  altitude  of  Yosemite  is  given 
at  4,060  feet.  It  is  about  8  miles  long,  from  J  mile  to  1J 
miles  wide,  surrounded  by  walls  in  many  places  perpen 
dicular,  from  3,000  to  6, 000  feet  high.  Its  general  course 
is  north-east  and  south-west ;  from  one  end  to  the  other 
there  is  a  fall  of  50  feet ;  the  number  of  acres  of  every 
kind  of  land  is  36,111  ;  the  main  Merced  River  is  about 
80  feet  wide,  and  perfectly  clear,  and  runs  through  the 
entire  length  of  the  valley  ;  trout,  in  reasonable  quanti 
ties,  can  be  seen  at  almost  any  point  of  the  river ;  nume 
rous  kinds  of  trees  and  shrubs  grow  through  it ;  ferns, 
flowers  and  grasses  grow  in  almost  endless  quantities 
and  varieties.  The  atmosphere  is  very  temperate,  brac 
ing  and  healthy,  both  summer  and  winter,  the  thermo 
meter  seldom  running  above  80°  in  the  summer,  or  more 
than  16°  below  freezing  point  in  the  winter— a  cool  breeze 
from  the  northwest  in  the  morning,  and  from  the  north 
east  at  night,  keeps  the  valley  in  summer  at  a  very  com 
fortable  temperature.  Snow  falls  in  winter  from  three  to 
five  feet  in  depth.  The  sun  rises  at  our  hotel,  in  the  short 
est  day  of  the  year,  at  half-past  one  in  the  afternoon  and 
sets  at  half -past  three,  the  day  being  only  of  two  hours' 
duration  in  winter. 

Rain  and  snow  generally  comes  from  the  south.  No 
communication  with  the  outer  world  for  about  six  months 
in  the  year.  In  winter  an  Indian  mail-carrier  takes  the 
mail  to  the  citizens  in  the  valley  once  in  three  months,  on 
foot.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  tourist  should 
allow  himself  so  brief  a  period  in  this  wonderful  valley, 
usually  only  from  three  to  four  days,  when  he  should  re 
main  at  least  fourteen.  After  he  has  left  its  sublime  soli 
tudes,  its  numerous  waterfalls  and  brooklets,  its  pictu 
resque  river  scenes,  its  groups  of  trees  and  shrubs,  its 
endless  variety  of  wild  flowers,  its  bold,  ragged,  awe- 


138 

inspiring,  pine-studded  and  snow-covered  mountains, 
with  all  their  ever-changing  shadows  and  curious  shapes 
and  its  health-giving  charms,  that  would  have  given 
pleasurable  occupation  and  grateful  variety  to  every  class 
and  condition,  both  of  body  and  mind,  for  months,  he 
contrasts  that  he  saw  with  that  he  might  have  seen,  and 
becomes  dissatisfied  with  his  course  in  spending  so  much 
time  as  well  as  money  in  traveling  there  and  riding  off 
without  seeing  more  than  a  limited  portion  of  such  re 
markable  scenes.  Wishing  all  a  safe  and  joyous  return, 
with  none  but  pleasant  memories  forever  of  their  trip  to 
the  Yosemite,  we  bid  each  agreeable  companion  a  reluct 
ant  "good  bye/' 

And  now,  as  we  leave  Inspiration  Point,  we  all  jump 
into  our  coach,  take  a  long  look  at  old  Yosemite  Valley, 
sit  down,  and  the  driver  asks  the  question,  Are  you  all 
ready  ?  Not  one  answered,  for  we  all  felt  as  though  we 
were  parting  with  our  best  friend,  and  hated  to  say  go 
on,  but  the  driver  took  silence  for  consent,  and  with  the 
crack  of  the  whip  off  we  go  up  the  high  mountains,  and 
in  a  few  moments  we  are  out  of  sight  of  Yosemite 
Valley,  and  at  12J  A.  M.  arrived  at  Big  Tree  Station,  and 
at  2  P.  M.  we  started  for  Mariposa  and  arrived  there  at 
8  P.  M. 

In  the  afternoon,  Frank  shot  a  Jack  Rabbit,  and  after 
that  tried  to  shoot  another,  standing  alongside  of  the 
driver  on  the  stage.  In  so  doing  the  three  leading  horses 
took  fright,  jumped  ahead,  and  broke  the  double  whiffle- 
tree,  and  there  we  were  fifteen  miles  from  any  house,  but 
after  awhile  the  driver  fixed  it  up  so  we  could  go  on  again. 
Frank  did  not  attempt  to  shoot  off  that  gun  again,  but 
from  a  little  what  I  said  he  came  to  the  conclusion  to  put 
the  gun  up  and  cause  no  more  disturbance.  Once  more 
we  started  ahead,  and  on  going  down  a  steep  mountain 
we  ran  foul  of  a  rock  oa  the  side  of  the  road,  and  it 
made  everything  crack,  and  we  began  to  think  we  would 
be  obliged  to  stay  out  all  night,  for  it  appeared  as  if  the 
hind  axletree  was  broken,  but  on  getting  out  and  shov- 


139 

Bancroft  Library 

ing  the  coach  back  we  found  everything  all  right,  and  so 
we  reseated  ourselves  and  once  more  started  ahead,  and 
after  ten  miles  more  of  driving  arrived  at  Mariposa, 
thankful  for  our  safe  arrival,  and  the  next  morning,  May 
20th,  Sunday,  started  for  Merced,  and  I  wish  to  say  this 
was  the  first  time  we  traveled  on  God's  day  from  our 
first  start.  We  timed  it  so  that  when  Sunday  came  we 
were  not  on  the  road  breaking  the  Sabbath,  and  I  think  we 
got  on  a  little  better  than  those  whenever  make  arrange 
ments  for  stopping  over  on  Sunday  ;  but  this  Sunday  we 
were  obliged  to  be  out  till  2  P.  M.,  at  which  time  we 
arrived  at  Merced,  where  we  had  previously  left  our 
trunks  when  starting  for  the  Valley  in  the  stage.  We 
remained  at  the  hotel,  our  little  party  breaking  up  and 
going  in  different  directions.  We  took  the  train  at  11 
p.  M.,  and  went  to  Lower  California,  500  miles  down  the 
coast  to  Los  Angelos.  Nothing  of  note  occurred,  and  we 
arrived  next  morning.  I  had  heard  much  of  Lower 
California,  but  this  trip  was  not  a  very  satisfactory  one. 
We  simply  traveled  all  day  through  sand,  dust,  and  wind. 
It  appeared  as  if  this  was  the  last  feather  to  the 
camel' s  back  in  the  way  of  dust  and  sand  down  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Mountain  Valley.  It  is  a  crooked  railroad  and 
no  mistake.  On  going  over  these  mountains  the  con 
ductor  called  our  attention  to  a  hole  away  up  in  the 
mountain,  right  over  our  heads,  and  he  said  w^  would 
have  to  pass  through  that  hole.  I  could  hardly  believe 
him,  but  I  noticed  the  winding  road  right  up  over  this 
tremendous  mountain,  and  I  noticed  we  crossed  our  own 
track,  and  after  a  number  of  windings  and  short  cuts  wre 
at  last  did  pass  right  through  the  hole,  called  Tunnel  No. 
9,  and  there  were  no  less  than  seventeen  of  these  tunnels 
to  go  through  in  ascending  the  mountain.  The  engineer 
ing  on  this  railroad,  I  am  told,  is  ahead  of  anything  of 
its  kind  in  this  country,  and  I  believe  it  to  be  true,  and 
it  is  worth  the  time  and  expense  of  a  man  who  loves 
engineering  to  go  and  have  a  good  look  at  this  great 
work  of  running  a  train  up  the  side  of  a  mountain  many 


140 

thousand  feet  high.  Nothing  further  of  note  transpired, 
and  we  arrived  at  Los  Angelos  in  time  for  dinner.  In 
the  evening  I  visited  a  lodge  of  Odd  Fellows  called 
Augablia  Lodge  No.  195,  and  spent  a  very  pleasant 
evening.  P.  G.  M.  Hill,  of  California,  delivered  an 
address  on  Odd  Fellowship  in  General,  and  as  he  is  a 
speaker  as  well  as  a  preacher  he  had  no  difficulty  in  tell 
ing  his  story  in  a  common  sense  way. 

May  22d  was  spent  in  taking  a  ride  to  the  Orange  Grove 
in  near  vicinity.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  time  in  pass 
ing  through  miles  of  orange  and  fruit  groves.  We  were 
well  received  by  the  owners  of  the  ranches  and  gardens 
as  we  went  along.  We  saw  many  kinds  of  fruit  and 
plants,  such  as  acorns,  pepper  trees,  English  walnuts, 
bananas,  butternuts,  oranges,  peaches,  etc.,  also  a  real 
tree  of  Lebanon,  and  many  other  kinds  of  trees,  the 
names  of  which  I  do  not  remember.  We  also  passed  a 
garden  of  thirty- four  kinds  of  flowers  and  roses,  with 
which  the  owner  loaded  us  down.  We  also  stopped  at 
a  mission  church  called  the  San  Gabriel  Mission,  a 
Spanish  building  over  104  years  old,  a  Roman  Catholic 
church.  They  were  holding  services  when  we  arrived 
there. 

We  also  called  upon  Col.  McEwan,  who  owns  a  beauti 
ful  ranch.  He  has  a  great  liking  for  beautiful  flowers 
and  shrubs.  We  were  invited  into  his  house,  the  walls 
of  which  are  nine  feet  thick.  It  is  called  the  Emoline 
House,  130  years  old.  Years  ago,  every  man's  house 
was  his  castle,  and  Spanish  robbers  were  plenty,  and  the 
owners  were  obliged  to  defend  themselves  from  the  high 
waymen.  I  also  noticed  that  the  well  of  water  was  made 
in  the  wall  of  the  house,  and  drawn  from  the  inside  of 
the  building.  We  had  a  splendid  time  with  the  Colonel, 
and  then  retraced  our  steps  homeward.  In  the  evening 
I  attended  Orange  Grove  Encampment  No.  31,  and  spent 
a  very  pleasant  evening. 

May  23d,  Mrs.  Gregory  and  my  wife  went  some  fifty 
miles  to  see  Mrs.  Gregory's  brother,  who  has  a  Bee 


141 

Ranch.  We  are  to  meet  again  in  San  Francisco  next 
Sunday.  Frank  and  myself  went  to  Sante  Maneco,  about 
17  miles,  a  seaport  town  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  we 
shipped  on  board  the  steamship  Orizaba  for  San  Francisco. 
It  seemed  natural  once  more  to  go  on  board  a  water  craft, 
this  time  on  the  great  Pacific  Ocean.  It  made  me  think 
of  my  business  and  my  home  again.  May  24th  I  was 
awakened  by  the  firing  of  a  gun  at  Santa  Barbara.  This 
is  the  Long  Branch ,  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  a  great 
watering  place  for  the  Western  people.  The  climate  is 
very  mild,  and  the  town  is  almost  surrounded  by  high 
mountains,  although  right  on  the  coast.  After  taking  in 
more  passengers  we  resumed  our  voyage.  There  were 
two  big  Sea  Lions  on  board,  as  freight,  in  boxes,  and  as 
I  went  near  them  they  showed  fight  and  commenced  to 
growl.  They  seemed  dissatisfied  with  their  position,  and 
stu^k  out  their  heads  and  growled  like  a  dog,  and  they 
tried  to  bite  me. 

We  stopped  at  a  place  called  G-arioli,  and  took  on  800 
sheep  and  lambs  for  the  San  Francisco  market.  The 
manner  of  getting  them  on  board  is  wonderful.  They 
were  put  in  the  ship's  hold  in  twenty  minutes,  by  leading 
a  lamb  ahead  then  the  whole  lot  would  follow.  On  the 
same  pier  where  our  ship  lay  was  a  steamship  called 
Wm.  Taber,  bound  for  Sacramento,  loading  with  cattle 
for  market,  and  the  way  the  owners  got  these  steers  on 
board  was  curious.  A  gangway  is  built,  box-like,  to  the 
vessel ;  the  cattle  are  all  up  in  a  corral ;  the  drivers, 
who  are  Mexicans,  are  on  horseback  ;  these  cattle  are 
run  down  the  dock  as  fast  as  they  can  go  by  the  drivers 
and  horses  ;  halloing,  shouting,  and  using  their  long 
goads,  they  are  kept  in  the  gangway,  and  before  they 
are  aware  of  it  are  compelled  to  go  on  board  the  ship. 
The  cattle  oftentimes  become  crazed,  and  they  show  fight, 
but  the  herders,  with  their  long  goads,  whip  and  frighten 
the  animals  until  they  give  up  and  rush  on  the  gangway 
on  board  the  ship,  many  of  them  more  dead  than  alive. 
We  continued  up  the  Pacific  Coast  500  miles,  until  we 


142 

came  in  sight  of  the  seal  rocks  at  the  Golden  Gate.  At 
4£  p.  M.,  we  went  through  the  gate  into  the  harbor  of 
San  Francisco,  and  at  5  p.  M.  we  landed  at  the  wharf 
and  made  a  bee  line  for  the  hotel,  where  we  remained  for 
the  next  three  days  waiting  for  the  lady  members  of  our 
party  to  come  from  the  lower  end  of  California.  They 
hove  in  sight  on  Sunday,  about  noon. 

May  the  28th,  in  the  morning,  at  8  o'clock,  we  all 
started  for  home  in  New  York.  We  took  the  palace 
drawing-room  provided  for  us,  and  the  first  stopping- 
place  was  Sacramento,  and  then  to  Ogden,  where  we 
changed  to  the  Northern  Pacific  for  Omaha. 

Our  company  was  increasing  as  we  went  along,  and 
when  at  Ogden  we  became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Chase, 
of  Illinois,  a  splendid  tenor  singer,  also  Chaplain 
McCabe  and  his  friends,  and  altogether  we  had  a  splen 
did  time  in  coming  over  the  mountains  ;  singing  by  Mrs. 
Gregory,  Mr.  Chase,  the  Doctor,  Mr.  Marsh  and  Chaplain 
McCabe  about  all  the  time ;  then  all  of  us  would  chime  in 
and  we  had  a  glorious  time. 

When  at  Reno  we  took  Mr.  Frank  Leslie  and  party  on 
board.  They  came  in  their  own  car. 

May  29th.  This  day  passed  through  the  Humboldt 
Valley  again,  and  it  snowed  all  day  long.  Although  the 
the  weather  was  good,  snow  storms  were  out  of  order, 
so  it  seemed  to  us. 

We  had  some  fun  with  Mrs.  Leslie  and  her  poodle- 
dog  this  morning.  At  all  of  our  eating  stations  Mrs. 
Leslie  would  carry  her  poodle  to  the  table  with  her. 
While  at  the  breakfast  table  at  Humboldt  the  dog  began 
to  bark  at  the  Chinamen  waiters  with  their  long  pig-tails 
behind  them.  Mrs.  Leslie  could  not  keep  the  "little 
nuisance"  still,  and  so  she  picked  him  up  and  strode 
down  the  aisle  of  the  room  to  go  on  board  her  car. 
Every  eye  was  on  the  woman,  and  the  dog  kept  barking 
at  the  Chinamen  all  the  way  out.  Mr.  Leslie  kept  his 
seat  until  the  woman  and  dog  had  disappeared ;  he 
seemed  to  dislike  the  scene  very  much  ;  his  actions  spoke 


143 

plainer  than  words  that  he  wished  the  Chinaman  would 
cut  the  dog's  tail  off  close  behind  his  ears. 

May  30th.  arrived  at  Laramie  plains,  the  highest  point 
on  the  railroad,  8,242  feet  high.  From  here  we  descend 
very  fast,  for  we  are  now  on  the  top  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains,  and  the  weather  is  very  cold,  rain  and  snow  conti 
nually. 

Arrived  at  Cheyenne,  and  our  number  is  increased  by 
the  addition  of  Mr.  Gregory,  who  meets  us  here. 

June  1st.  Arrived  at  Omaha,  at  3:46  P.M.,  and  here 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  left  us,  and  remained  at  Omaha 
over  night,  while  we  went  on  to  Chicago,  where  we  arrived 
at  4  p.  M.  the  next  day. 

June  2d.  We  passed  through  a  most  beautiful  coun 
try  ;  everything  along  the  route  looked  thrifty  and  well 
kept,  the  country  and  the  beautiful  farms  look  so  nice. 
It  appears  that  this  was  the  garden  of  beautiful  farms, 
and  rich  men  enjoy  themselves  as  only  wealthy  farmers 
can.  What  a  difference  in  the  looks  of  the  country. 
We  have  been  running  through  a  beautiful  valley,  called 
the  "  Boyer  Valley."  We  are  still  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 
We  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  at  Clinton  at  9  A.  M. 
and  what  a  stream  this  father  of  waters  is.  We  have 
crossed  the  bridge  into  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  we  find 
the  weather  very  warm,  more  so  than  we  had  experienced 
since  leaving  Brooklyn  three  months  previous.  At  4  P.M. 
we  arrived  at  Chicago,  and  went  to  the  Sherman  House. 
My  wife  is  complaining,  and  is  quite  sick,  and  has  been 
so  since  leaving  San  Francisco,  and  to-day  she  is  not  able 
to  go  down  to  her  meals. 

June  3d.  Found  my  wife  some  better,  and  being  Sunday, 
I  went  to  the  First  M.  E.  Church,  returned,  took  dinner, 
and  strolled  through  the  city  to  see  the  sights,  also  went 
to  Lake  Michigan,  a  splendid  body  of  water.  I  was  in 
Chicago  in  1843,  but  what  a  change  since  then.  In  the 
afternoon  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  arrived  from  Omaha, 
and  the  next  day  we  took  a  carriage  and  drove  through 
the  city  to  the  place  where  the  great  fire  started  ;  also. 


144 

the  water- works,  where  they  tunneled  under  the  lake  two 
miles  so  as  to  get  pure  water  for  the  city.  After  dinner 
I  called  on  Mr.  J.  Ward  Ellis,  one  of  the  leading  Odd 
Fellows  of  the  town,  and  had  a  talk  with  him.  He  it 
was  who  received  our  donation  for  the  suffering  Odd  Fel 
lows  of  the  city  after  the  great  fire,  and  I  found,  on  exa 
mination,  that  except  from  San  Francisco,  that  old  At 
lantic  Lodge  paid  more  money  than  any  other  Lodge  in 
the  Union  ;  I  also  called  on  E.  B.  Shenson,  of  the  Relief 
Committee  of  Odd  Fellows,  who  gave  out  the  work  and 
distributed  the  money,  and  while  talking  with  him,  a 
man  came  in  from  Detroit,  and  was  introduced  to  me  as 
Mr.  Robert  H.  Marioni,  Grand  Representative  of  Sturgis, 
Michigan.  I  showed  these  two  brothers  my  medal,  and 
they  were  highly  pleased  with  it,  and  said  they  had  heard 
of  it  before,  but  never  expected  to  see  it.  In  the  evening 
1  visited  Home  Lodge,  No.  416,  and  was  received  by  the 
brothers  in  a  very  handsome  manner. 

June  5th.  We  all  started  on  the  Michigan  Central 
Railroad  for  Detroit,  and  arrived  there  at  6  p.  M.  After 
supper  we  took  a  carriage  and  went  through  the  town. 
Of  all  the  places  we  visited  in  the  West,  the  verdict  of 
our  little  party  was  that  Detroit  presented  more  beautiful 
houses  and  better  paved  streets,  and  more  beautiful 
sights,  than  any  other  city  out  West. 

June  6th.  Left  Detroit  by  crossing  the  St.  Croix  River 
and  taking  cars  on  the  Canada  side  for  Niagara  Falls. 

Detroit  is  a  splendid,  clean,  and  beautiful  city,  and, 
should  I  ever  want  to  leave  my  own  home,  I  would  rather 
go  to  Detroit  than  any  place  I  know  of,  or  that  I  have 
ever  seen  ;  and  this  is  the  judgment  of  our  whole  party. 

After  riding  around  for  some  time,  we  concluded  to 
break  up  our  little  party.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  will 
go  right  home,  and  Frank  goes  direct  to  Niagara  Falls, 
and  remains  there  until  we  come.  My  wife  and  self  will 
go  to  my  wife' s  brother  in  Canada. 

This  we  do,  and  remain  over  night,  and  the  next  day 
start  to  meet  Frank  at  Niagara  Falls.  The  next  day  we 


145 

make  a  final  start,    and  arrive  in  Brooklyn  June  13th, 

1877. 


11  RECAPITULATION." 

We  left  home  April  3d,  and  arrived  back  home  June 
13th.  Were  gone  nearly  eleven  weeks,  and  traveled  dur 
ing  that  time  nearly  eleven  thousand  miles,  on  cars,  on 
stages  and  on  horseback.  We  passed  through  15  States, 
five  Territories  and  one  British  Province,  and  they  are  as 
follows,  commencing  with  New  York,  Delaware,  Penn 
sylvania,  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Virginia,  Ohio,  In 
diana,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Nebraska, 
Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah,  Nevada,  California,  Michigan 
nnd  Canada.  And  now,  brothers,  you  who  have  heard 
this  account  of  my  trip  to  the  West,  I  thank  you  for 
your  kindness  in  listening  to  what  I  had  to  say.  I  hope 
you  have  been  profited,  as  I  have  been,  in  telling  this 
story  of  my  trip  to  the  West ;  I,  therefore,  bid  you  all  a 
good-bye. 

L.  BOYER. 


